Birth By Sleep: New Life Found For Girls
by BlessYourFace1
Summary: Parents decided to leave you since you're no use to them... But luckily, Eraqus found you and decided to be your legal parent.
1. Chapter 1

_Once upon a time, there was there a little girl who has been abandoned by her parents then_

_adopted by a man named Eraqus. He found her crying in one of the dirty road and felt a_

_strong saddest swept over him. So he decided to approach her and ask her what is a young girl_

_like her sleeping in a street all alone by herself and where are her parents? He was greeted by_

_a surprise response…_

_So after acknowledging her stories, the man decided to take her to his house at a place called_

_The Land of Departure. For that place will be her new home…_

* * *

><p>Once arriving at the Land of Departure, you notice how beautiful and enchanted this place<p>

seems to be. It was 5 in the afternoon when Eraques, (the kind man who adopted you) has brought

you along with him to this place where his home would be. And upon seeing that home, you

gasp without a sound as you let out a surprise look on your cute face at the humongous castle-

like house where you never thought or expect this man would live… It was gigantic and the

thought of living in that castle already brings excitement all over your blood and bones.

You both entered inside the hous- no! castle and your view the area inside in awe... You can see a

red and gold carpet that align in the center of the pure white floors up to the top where there

are grand staircase that lead to the second floor. The second floor can even have a view from

down below and from up you can see two persons, one female who has an aquatic colored hair

that is short yet stylishly beauty .

The other one is a young male who seems to be the age of 14-16 and has a blonde cool-style

spiky hair that perfectly fits his appearance.

Up there, you can guess that they were doing some combat moves with something equip in

their hands that appears to be a weapon.

The weapon they equip looks like a key design shape that is huge enough to look like a sword.

You tilt your head in wonder at those 'thing', 'Is that a toy?' you thought.

From across, you can see another person that appears to be a male who has a broad shoulder,

noticeable muscles over and underneath those shirt and chocolate colored hair that instantly

makes you crave for chocolate. That chocolate haired guy also has that 'thing' equip in his

hand and seems to be doing some uh…. exercise? Your not sure.

Once that two of you had entered inside from outside, they stop what they are doing and

greeted that man beside you.

"Master Eraques." greeted a female voice.

"Master."

greeted the man from a distant across who nods at his master and saw you standing beside

him, curiosity fills his eyes yet his face stays expressionless.

The blond boy leans over from the second floor, spotting you and Eraques from below and

greets with a welcoming smile and waves

"Hey there!".

The aquatic approach him and looks stunned to see a young little girl standing shyly beside

her master.

"Oh, we have a guest!" she stated unsurely.

The chocolate haired guy went the two and ask "And who's this?" looking at you with an amuse

look. You stared into his eyes, that is examining or staring at you.

You notice he has an aquatic colored eyes just like that aquatic girl and instantly blush and

looks away when you can't resist anymore of his penetrating stare.

The two from above hurriedly went down as Eraqus smiles and began to speak

"Terra, Aqua and Ventus, I would like you three to meet someone."

The aquatic girl and the young blond each stood beside the chocolate guy. The three across you

looks at you in interest as the aquatic girl asks in amuse "And who's this?"

"I would like you guys to meet ~~~~. This young girl I found was abandoned by her parents

and found in one of the roads in !*&% all by herself crying so I had to go pick her and send

here…"

The three guys look at her in sympathy and awe… How come such a cute, innocent, adorable looking child like her be abandon by her parents! What are they thinking!

"She told me that she was abandoned three years ago (Terra, Aqua and Ventus wince and

looks surprise) and travelled her own searching for a shelter day by day and manage to find

one every night for her to sleep with."

The three frowns and looks at you in pity and sympathy as the you shyly avoid their gaze.

"So how does she manage to get food?" ask the girl in concern as the two male beside her looks

at Eraqus in interest.

Eraques signs and said "Everyday, ~~~~ would try to steal a food from a store without being

caught and save some for the rest of the other day to avoid being suspicious."

The three frown's deepens and Eraques signs again, "But now, she will live here and this will

be her new home, so I expect you guys to also go take good care of her while I'm not around

and one of you must keep an eye on her in case she gets into trouble… She's only 4 years old,

still not much of an IQ but she knows to behave once instructed right ~~~~?" Eraques smiles

down at you.

You smile shyly, still avoiding their gaze and nods.

"Why hello there, my name is Terra," Terra kneels down in one knee until he reaches your level

"You must be a shy girl aren't you?'' he ask in amuse as you blush.

The aquatic girl giggles and bent down her knees to reach your level,

"Hi ~~~~, (she extend her hand) I'm Aqua, (you shyly took her hand and shake hands with

her) it's nice to meet you" Aqua smiles at you as you shyly smile back.

The last guy who seems to be the youngest cuts in, bent in and extend his hand, replacing with

Aqua's with a grin.

"And I'm Ventus! But just call me Ven" you shyly smiles and nod as you two shake hands.

Eraqus smiles in an amuse smile "Okay guys, one of you must show her around the place then

to her own room so that she can start settling in. Any volunteers?"

Aqua and Ven raise their hands at the same "I will!" then look at each other in surprise.

Terra starts laughing in amuse and said "It's funny how those two act almost the same alike"

Eraques smiles in amuse and nods, grunting.

Aqua and Ven are arguing about who will get to tour you as you stood there frozen.

The both amuse Terra and Eraques watch. "Perhaps, you would like to help?" ask Eraques

smiling, Terra nods, "Don't mind If I do." Terra approach the two of them and extends out his

arms both sideways for them to stop.

Aqua and Ven immediately stop and look at Terra in question.

"Guys… to sort this thing out. Why not ask her instead, to choose her own tour guide so neither

of you had to break out and cause a scene in front of an innocent child who's ready to live with

us,"

Both Aqua and Ven both looks surprise and ashamed at the moment before looking at you with

hope filled in their eyes.

"Isn't that right ~~~?" Terra asks you with a smile as you smile back and nod.

Ven appeared in front of you grinning, and points to himself "Pick me! I can show you the

**entire** place from top to bottom and in and out without missing a spot."

"Ven! That's cheating! " Aqua scold, pushing him out of the way before standing in front of you

smiling

"It would be much better if you pick me, you see, I live here much more as he does and knows

this place far more better than him," Ven stares at Aqua in disbelief and glares as she continues

" And can tour you properly around this place so you

won't get lost easily," Ven hangs his mouth open in utterly disbelief, still glaring at Aqua who

still continues

"So what do you say?" she grins.

You look lost for words, finding it difficult to choose in between them until Ven cuts in

"What do you mean 'knows more better' than me? I live here for 3 years now and I already got

all these places memorized!" he defends, throwing his arms around the air.

Aqua only stood there as to challenge him more with a narrowed eyes,

"Plus," he looks at your way and grins, pointing at himself "I'm a pretty entertaining tour

guide! I can make you laugh, smile, giggly,"

Aqua crosses her arms and rolls her eyes "… and not boring like Aqua's."

This makes Aqua's eyes grew wide in surprise and gasp, finally glared

"What do you mean boring? I'm a pretty good tour guide! Unlike you, who keeps forgetting

things…" you, Eraques and Terra sweatdrop.

Ven's eyes widen and he glares "What do you mean keeps forgetting things? I always keep

my things organized and think twice ahead before acting! Whatever gives you the idea?" he

defends,

Aqua smirks "Like the last time you keep forgetting that you were suppose to wash the dishes."

Ven's eyes widen in realization "I thought your suppose to wash the dishes!" Aqua laughs in

amuse and grins, pointing at him

"See? You forgot." Ven's eyes narrows

"No I'm not!" he defends, as Aqua chuckles, amuse by his exaggerating

"You guys never told me that I was suppose to wash the dishes!" he added.

Aqua grins "Cause you forgot your schedule." she stated amuse.

Ven's face redden, and before he was about to protest, Eraques interrupted.

"Guys! We have a child here. No fighting!" Both Aqua and Ven snap their heads at you,

forgetting that you were there and suddenly realize you were there watching them, with an amuse look in your eyes.

"Oh!" they stated at the same time and both bow their heads in apology at you and Master

Eraqus.

"We're sorry!" they stood up straight, both of their face reddens in embarrassment as Terra

snorts.

Eraques lip's curved upward and shook his head in amuse

"Look, to make this fair, why not have the two of you to tour her so there won't be an

argument." he suggest as Terra smirks and nods in agrees,

"Yeah… why not? That'll make things more easier."

Both Aqua and Ven's jaw drop in surprise.

Eraques smirks and turn to Terra, "That'll include you too Terra…" this time Terra's jaw drop

and looks at Master Eraqus in surprise

"M-Me…?"

Eraques smiles and nod

"Yes, just to make sure Aqua and Ven don't have another argument while touring ~~~~."

Terra nods, "Alright then. Guess I have to look on guard."

Eraques snorts and nod "Well, you can also play the tour guide. Just make sure not to get out-level Aqua and Ventus."

"No! Two is enough!" declared Ven from across as Aqua grunts in agree.

Terra wince and looks at master Eraqus in apology, "Nope, I'm fine being the bodyguard."

Eraques laughs and nods

"Okay then. Terra, Aqua and Ventus, I trust the responsibility into your hands, go make ~~~~

feels herself like she's already at home." Aqua and Ven nods. Eraques turns to you smiling,

"~~~~, I want you to follow the trio while they show you around the house okay?" you nod in

polite and smile.

Eraques smiles and ruffle your hair affectionately like his your dad,

"I'm just gonna take some few rest before I'll see you all at dinner." he stated before turning to

the trio who stood straight like a soldier once he turn.

"And after the tour. Send her to her room so that she can adjust and make sure she freshens

before dinner." Ven nods with a salute in a serious expression as Aqua and Terra simply nods.

"Got it." Stated Aqua.

"Now go with them ~~~. Don't worry, their take care of you, I'll see you again in a few hours

okay?" he smiles at you reassuringly as you nod and half smile, before reluctantly turn to face

the three in a shy smile when you saw them smiling at you.

Aqua approaches you and grabs your hand gently with a sweet smile

"Come let's go."

You turn your head to your right when you felt your hand being grab and saw Ven also giving

you the sweet smile that makes him look charming,

"It's touring time" he stated.

Aqua on your left and Ven on your right, each holding your hands.

You shyly smile at the both of them before looking back at Eraques, who watch and smile in

amuse. You gave him a farewell smile and nod as he nods back smiling and called

"Enjoy."

"Oh we'll make it enjoyable alright! Right guys?" grins Ven as Terra and Aqua smiles and nod.

Aqua giggles "Of course! We'll make the touring fun." she stated. "That's what she said." said Terra with a smirk. Aqua looks at Terra in a raise brow.

"Yeah we will!" reassured Ven.

Eraques smiles and nods before when a sudden realization hits him. He quickly turns around and called.

"Wait!"

The four turned and look at him in wonder before he hesitated,

"I forgot to mention to you guys earlier…" Terra, Aqua and Ven looks at him in wonder,

interested to hear what he forgot to say earlier

"Apparently… ~~~~~~ is mute." "WHAT?" gasp


	2. Chapter 2

So apparently, the reason why your parents abandoned you was because your mute…. From the start of age 2, when your parents decided that your 'big' enough to be handled by your own, they without a second thought, think that it would be a _good _idea to start leaving you in one of the streets that contains the most homeless people and kids that all look kinda dirty and rotten like a street rats.

Since you were only at the age 2 that day, you were too innocent and young to notice that your mother and father secretly pack all of your clothes and stuffed it into a duffel bag and hid it inside the car's back.

You thought they were going to take you out to the park or somewhere which involves a 'family bonding' when you were happily sitting at the back seat silently watching your mommy and daddy talked about that _certain destination _you were all about to be going to.

During the long ride through, you were gazing through the window right beside you, watching boredly (sp?) by the endless passing of trees and the people that were walking by when your mother gave you a bottle of milk with a sweet smile. Your mother knew how much you love to drink milk and always made you one during at the stay of home.

You gladly took it and gave your mother a thank you smile before drinking it.

When you were half way done, you suddenly felt sleepy like you haven't asleep for the previous eight hours and you felt your eyes slowly growing heavy. Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw your mother slightly turn to look at you without making it obvious but you ignore it and continue drinking your bottle of milk.

You try to fight back the sleepiness that slowly engulfs you but felt too weak, like your slowly draining out of energy when you finish your bottle. Your vision slowly turns into blackness like your about to faint in a second when the last thing you saw was your mother who fully turns to look at you in an emotionless expression and your dad still driving.

* * *

><p>It's like your surrounded by a peaceful darkness. Your mind is in full relax-mode. You were in a sleeping state, like you were having a nice long nap when a sudden buzzing noise appears next to your ear. But you ignored it, wanting to return to your peaceful slumber when the annoying buzz still keeps ringing right next to your ears. You groggily open your eyes when you felt a slight tingling sensation on your face and saw a fly, sitting at the top of your noise with the rest of his friends flying everywhere all around you. You instantly rub it off and slowly sat up, taking in your surroundings.<p>

You quickly grew panic when you found yourself at a junkyard, surrounded by a bunch of dirty looking people with rag clothes where some of them were sleeping on the dirty ground with a newspaper, some were sleeping on top of the already rusty looking cars that might have been there and unused for more than 5 years and saw one guy just like one of them sleeping underneath the car. Some of the rest were reading newspapers, drinking some can of beer while having an argument or playing around. There just too many of them that only puts more fear inside you as you continue to look around.

Suddenly, a group of homeless kids just like your age or more elder than you, run into your way and grab a duffel bag that was just laying there innocently beside you the whole time and one kid hurriedly pick it up. The rest of the kids eagerly tried to tug it and claim it as themselves, like each of them were having a war trying to claim their jackpot when your eyes suddenly grow wide when you notice that that duffel bag belongs to you!

You glared and push them out of the way with all your strength in your tiny frame and grab your duffel bag from the boy's grip who looks surprise like the rest of the others. You clutch your duffel bag protectively against your chest and glared at them all. To your surprise and fear, they instantly let out a yell and jolt out at you, outnumbering you, as you quickly turn and running away from those monsters who were chasing you like a predator and wondered where mommy and daddy is…

_*Pant*_

_*Pant*_

You were panting (soundlessly) as you were running, tears threaten to escape. You were running out of breath and felt the urge to find a safe place to rest but not at this place. You were also wondering if you could find your mom and dad somewhere here, but that seems impossible.

You pass by a group of sleeping men on the ground, where one of them woke from the noise of your running step, then all woke up when those evil kids run pass them by their noisy running footsteps. They cursed the kids with a shaking fist and tried to get back to sleep.

You look back in panic as you were running, trying to figure out how far are they when you suddenly trip on a can of soda, unintentionally dropping your duffel bag from the sudden surprise. You felt a gash of pain on your knee and quickly examine it by lifting your now dirty skirt up and wince when you saw a form of a purple and black bruise.

Too busy studying and disgusted by your now forming bruise, you didn't notice that the homeless children quickly got your bag from across and zip open it greedily before taking out each of your clothes out. You snap your head at their direction in surprise and quickly stood up to stop them but froze when you saw a _bunch of clothes_ which belongs to yours quickly fallen or thrown out by their filthy hands and one of them quickly been picking up by those 'rats'. You shouted for them to stop but no sound came out, making you remember that you have no voice. Before all of your clothes were out of the bag, you run to the filthy tall girl who held your bag while throwing out your clothes and push her to the ground who yelps in surprise. You quickly snatch your bag up which almost looks empty and run as fast as you could out of the scary homeless children's sight and trying to find a way out of the junk yard.

You desperately look left and right, trying to find a path that would lead a way out of this hell hole into safety with tears dripping below your cheeks.

This place is crowded with full of hobos and street rats(children). You already hated this place and feeling the nerve to leave. You couldn't stand being here with people that scares you. From what you see across the distant, is a full of trees just like the view you've seen before from your father's car. Relief swept over you when you finally found a safety route to escape so you, without a second thought, ran into that direction where the trees of safety are calling you to protect you.

When you finally reach into the trees of safety, you finally caught up with your breath and lean slightly against the bark, fearing that ants might reach you and bite you, and take one last look into the junkyard where you woke up from.

You frown when a sudden realization hits you and look into your now almost empty duffel bad.

_Your parents left you…_

_Your parents didn't __**love**__ you like you thought they'll be._

_And your mother __**did **__that on purpose…_

With that, you swiftly turn away and run passing by one of the trees of safety until you found a strong healthy looking welcoming tree and decided to lean your back against it, not caring if ants reach and bite you, for the pain is too strong, as you began crying heart breakable on that tree, unable to believe what just had happened.

_Your parents had planned it all along… _

* * *

><p><em>To abandoned you…<em>

So after that _terrible _event, you had no choice but to live by yourself.

And in order to survive that, your gonna have to commit some sin.

And one of those sins are _stealing._

Your first strategy to survive is to steal, and your first try took a lot of effort.

You found yourself came across a small town where only a few people live and had no idea what to come up with until your eyes caught a sight of glimpse of a small **fudge cake**, that was displayed among the rest outside the store and instantly you had a strong desire to steal it.

So you went inside that store where you can see that this place is pack of customers who were checking out each cake what to pick which makes you realize that this is a **Cake **Store. You felt yourself drool at the sight of cakes that were being displayed at every corner and some on aisle and felt the urge to check each one out.

Cake is one of your weakness that you couldn't resist the temptation to eat it since you have a strong crave for sweets…

You found out that there are many different kinds of variety of the cakes such as _Traditional Cakes, All Novelty Cakes, Wedding Cakes, Cakes for Kids, _heck there are even _cupcakes _and _cookies!_

You watched in jealousy at the customers at the counter who were receiving their already bought cake that was already inserted in a cake box after paying it and look away. You look down at your almost g

_Should you do this?_

_Isn't it bad to steal?_

_Will they caught you trying to steal a cupcake?_

You look around and saw that people are being busy choosing what cake to buy and minding their own business. You glance back at the irresistible looking cupcakes that have so many different flavors and look hesitant. You took another caution glance around you more just to make sure before quickly snatching that cupcake and stuffing it into your duffel bag. You look inside your duffel bag and reach the cupcake to hid it in the corner to avoid being suspicious.

You hesitantly look to your side to check if someone saw you trying to steal and let out a sign of relief when their back is facing you, too focus on the cake their examining. With that advantage, you took another cup cake in a nick of time before hiding it in the corner of your bag with the first one.

That's two cupcakes for you! You thought joyfully and decided to snatch another one. And just you are about to place the _third_ one inside, a man suddenly appears around the corner and started heading towards you… making your heart rate speed faster.

_Oh no! _you thought

Just as you thought you were going to make some progress, someone finally _caught_ you **stealing** not just once or twice, but _thrice_, that makes the matters even worst!

When he was almost to your side, you stumble across a plan, thinking that maybe he'll actually fall for it. So you decided to imitate what the rest of the customers did, by examining the cupcake with an innocent look in your face and not being obvious trying to steal it.

Just when he was about to get _close_, your insides are shaking with nervousness and you can feel your heart beating against your chest in a drum rate. You froze when he stop in your side and slowly lean across to you. Your heart stops beating for a second as you stop find it hard for you to breathe… You knew you're already caught and **busted**.

_You're doomed… You're DOOMED! YOU'RE DOOMED!_

Your breathing and heart rate returns to normal when you realize that man was only leaning across to you to _reach _the cupcakes he was trying to get. So you gave him space and sign once again in relief.

_Whew… That was close…_

You realize that the cupcake was still in your hand so you quickly place it with the rest of the two in an advantage when he's back was on you.

You quickly left the store, scared that maybe someone might perhaps caught you stealing without a notice and went far away from that store as much as possible. You had no idea where to go but were hoping that your legs will lead you to the right path of your unknown destination.

You pass by many people who were walking across the same road, same streets, and path that your feet is taking you with your head down, ashamed to meet or catch their gaze who might think you're one of the street rats that wonders around the places searching and begging for food, money and shelter.

_Cause you are…_

You saw a park a few miles across and decided to head there. After crossing the street with some grown-ups you finally reach the park and desperately tried to find a peaceful spot where you can savor your two **chocolate** and **vanilla** _cupcake__s_.As you were searching for the perfect spot, sadness and jealousy already hits you when you saw a whole lot group of _families _were having a bonding picnic time together at the grass, bench, fountains, ground, almost everywhere… Almost feeling a slight regret of coming here at the first place, you still had no choice around so you bow your head down and continue to walk a bit faster, ignoring the sounds of laughter and squealing of the lucky kids and the happy parents.

Finally after the sounds and sight of torture, you found the perfect spot which is peaceful enough that reminds you of the strong, healthy looking welcoming tree from the trees of safety and lean on it. From the distance, you saw a peaceful family being together binding their own business and time. The father, known to be as the head of the family, is reading some newspaper while drinking some sprite. The mother, known as the mother of course duh, is busy cooking a delicious barbecues for the family. Her eyes fully concentrating on the flesh just to make sure not a single burn can be seen so that she can impress her husband and kids…

_Perhaps she's a good cooker?_

Speaking of kids, you saw two children, one boy and one girl, _brother and sister _of course, silently playing a board game called _scrables_. From what see you in that family, they also seem to like having a quiet bonding moment unlike the noisy families you faced earlier. At least they weren't such a bother…

You decided it's the best time to be eating your delicious sweet treats as you zip open your duffel bag and grab the now little messy **chocolate **_cupcake _and munch.

Mmmm…. _Yummy! _You thought, savoring the heavenly sweet taste that always makes you forget what current state you're in and having no care in the world for just a temporary moment.

After munching two **chocolate **_cupcakes, _you decided to save the **vanilla **one for the time being and stood up to search for some water. Because of the power of sweetness of the **chocolate **_cupcakes, _it also leaves your whole entire mouth into a strong crave for waterness, which puts you into a more difficult situation when you saw a water fountain just across from you.

Since you had no money not even a cent or quarter, maybe you can drink some water from the fountain. So you went straight into the fountain and gaze down at the clear flowing of water. But deep inside it looks dirty yet tempting at the same time when suddenly a kid boy with his father approach the fountain and plays with the water with their **filthy **hands… You cringe at that sight, suddenly realizing why the water fountain looks dirty at the first place.

_Yuck!_

You left in disgust and desperately need a water to quench your annoying thirst. After a few walk in the park in search for water, you found a vending machines and relief swept over you. So you run into the vending machine and quickly press the button for water but frowns when nothing came out. You tilt your head in confuse and press again,

Nothing

Then again,

Nothing again,

You grew frustrated and press the button for water rapidly but stop when you heard a footstep approaching. You turn and see a woman with her daughter, who brought out her purse, taking out a few coins before giving it to her daughter who excitingly took it and run into the vending machine next to yours and insert one coin inside it to your surprise. She chose and pressed the button of her choice before a loud thud sound appear below the vending machine, the girl crunch down and slip her hand into the slid and brings out a can of soft drink! She gave it to her mom before inserting another coin inside the vending machine and pressed her button of choice before picking up another can she chose for herself.

So that's how it works, you figured. But the problem is, you don't have any coin.

So should you beg?

No, because you're **mute**.

But that doesn't mean you're giving up now! So in other words, you'll have to _steal_ again…

* * *

><p>To steal some coins, you plan to go to some of the public sellers like the balloon man who's selling some balloons, the cotton candy man who's selling candies or the chips man who's selling some chips. You chose the cotton candy man, since he seems to be the easiest target to steal some coins. You see him busy selling the cotton candy to the kids where their parents are paying it. You eyed the coins that were being place in a box of his own aisle. And upon seeing the pink cotton candy, and how many kids have each one of their own, you felt the nerve to steal and wondered what does it tastes like when you knew it's not possible since the man never leaves his aisle. But the advantage is, he's on the other side while his money's on the other side. You cautiously walk to his aisle where his money of coins is and stood there innocently, contrasting the perfect time to steal some coins without being seen by him and his customers. You studied his movement and his customers where all mostly consist of excited kids, who were willing to get their cotton candy in their hands. You notice whenever his done giving the cotton candy to the kids, he comes this way and throws the coins inside the box before heading back to the other way to go back to do his business.<p>

You quickly yet cautiously glance around just to make sure no one's going to see or spot you and crawl your arm up to reach the box full of coins. Once you felt a tip of it, you quickly snatch some of it and walk away, not turning around to be suspicious but when you're in a few distant away, you turn around and saw that the candy man seems oblivious to what just happened and only focus on his job. Not even the customers are paying attention unto you, only eyes drooling over the cotton candy their about to devour.

So you ran back to the vending machine and open your palm to see that you stole 5 coins to your surprise! You didn't actually believe it, but you just did. You didn't expect to steal more than 2 coins! You stood in front of the vending machine and decide to choose water and a can of coke. You copied what the girl just did from earlier before and took out the distilled fresh bottle of water, then did the same on the other vending machine to grab a can of coke.

You uncap the bottle of water before drinking the liquid eagerly that cause a few spills from your mouth. When you were satisfied, you cap back the bottle of distilled water only to see it empty. So you decided to get another one just in case.

You've spent the rest of the afternoon on the park, having a painfully hard time accepting that the fact your parents really abandoned you just because you are **mute**. Plus what makes it really difficult is that you were surrounded in a park full of _families_ who were enjoying spending time together which is distracting and really _annoys _the heck out of you! So you cried… You cried until your tears run out dry. You cried in a place where nobody can see or _hear_ you. You were hiding from everybody to avoid their attention. You don't want their attention… it'll only add embarrassment to you. Nobody wants you because you're **mute **and useless. You didn't even know how to communicate nor do a sign language so you felt useless anyway.

When it's about to get dark and getting evening, you decided it's the best time to leave the park in search for a safety shelter where no one can find you nor bother you.

It took you several hours to find the perfect place before the town goes to sleep but in the end, you did manage to find at least a safety place. That safety place is an old building where no one used to live there anymore and soon about to be demolish. When you entered inside, you can already spot a spider web that is hanging almost everywhere and a cracked wall that almost fill everywhere. There's even a hole in the walls. When you began to take a step, you notice that even that floor has a crack and each step you took has a low squealing sound. Nevertheless, you were inside a roof and felt safe enough that you finally found a shelter where no one lives anymore. Just the way you like it.

The old building you found is only three stories high so you decided to take the 3rd floor just in case. Since the elevator doesn't work anymore, probably all the energy system here shut down, you took the stair which is around the corner and start using it. You cringe at the smell and found out how dirty the walls are with covered spray that says something you aren't able to comprehend since you can't read yet.

The second floor just looks exact the same as the first floor is, only with more crack walls and dangerous gap at the floor that has a hole that can get a foot stuck once some one step on it. You continued to the next floor while covering your nose, unable to tolerate the strong disgusting odor that smells like a pee. Maybe men came to pee here every day. You shook your head at that disgusting image and continued to go third.

Once you reach the third floor, you found it was somehow dark with a bare light yet looks safety enough for a hideout just like you wanted but still notice a slight crack walls everywhere. You picked the farthest room in a corner just to be safe and open the door. Inside was the smallest empty flat with one living, one kitchen, one bedroom and two small bathrooms, that's it. Nothing special, but at least you've found a shelter right? Everything looks old, empty and dirty. There's even a spider web hanging at the top of the wall in the living room. In the small kitchen, everything looks messy and rusty, making you cringe and lose your appetite. The first bathroom you went looks okay enough, not too dirty and not too clean either, just normal… expect for the broken window and you almost had a heart attack when you saw a **HUGE **_spider_ came out of nowhere, making you instantly slam the door shut. You continued on the second bathroom that makes you want to barf. Why? Because the first time you opened the door, the first thing your eyes caught was a huge 'cookies' that has **almost **entirely filled the whole toilet crap that seems impossible to flush and the smell is just too overwhelming! So you instantly shut the door.

Well… you had two options if you really need to 'go'. Will you choose the normal looking bathroom that has a HUGE spider on it? Or the second one that has 'cookies' all over the toilet which cause odor too?

You choose none, so you decided to leave the flat to find a more suitable safety room that has no 'cookies' or spider on it. Smart choice. You went to the closest door and opened it, only to find the flat just as empty as the previous one but cleaner. You smile sadly,

_Perfect_

So you began settling in. The flat was almost identical to the previous one but has 2 bedrooms instead of one. And when you check the bathrooms, you half smile, both the bathrooms look normal and clean enough to use it. Without thinking, you rush in and shut the door and took everything out that has been stuck within you for the previous 10 hours.

You came out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and start grabbing your duffel bag who is now your only friend waiting for you at the door, and head inside one of the bedroom for a nap. The bedroom is small yet looks very welcoming. You were lucky enough that there was an old big mattress that was lying on the floor all looking lonely so you went near it and sat down, clutching your duffel bag in a hug since it is your only friend now. You opened the bag and frown when you had a very few clothes left that consist of 5 or 6, since the last time at the junkyard, those mean kids stole the rest from you.

After taking each one out, you saw you had one cupcake left and were thankful you did not finish it off earlier cause now you were so hungry!

The **vanilla **_cupcake _looks a little bit dirty but you quickly clean it up and grab a bite. Chewing it hungrily. As you were eating, you still can't accept the fact that your parents were really leaving you just because you're _mute!_ It really hurts you deep inside like a stab in the heart when you thought they have accepted and love you the way you but now knew that all along till at this current time that, they had planned to get _**rid **_of you all along…

That thought have pained you instantly that you began to shake with anger, betrayal, hatred and sadness. Tears already spilling down your face then you begin sobbing uncontrollably. You cried and cried until you fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Every now and then, you would go to a different store with your duffel bag as a 'side kick' to steal some goods such as candies, chocolates, lollipops, anything that involves sweets and sometimes grab a drink from a cooler.<p>

You would also try to steal some money from the public sellers, by acting innocent and when they turned around, you'd do your thing before walking away until your far enough to count how much money you've stole and collected.

You'd go from stores to stores, stealing every sweets and junks as you can, without being obvious. And you're smart enough to hide all of your stealing goods with your clothes that acts as a shield to block the beep of a machine from a grocery store.

When you have enough stolen goods, you'd come to a park to eat all of the foods you've stolen until you were satisfied before hanging around, trying very hard not to think or remember your parents anymore but find it difficult when you saw a family.

And if you really got to 'go' to relief yourself, you would go to the ladies restroom park and get used to the dirt and smell or go to any random restaurants or fast food restaurant to use the toilets or restrooms.

And every night of the day, you'd search for a shelter which chosen to be an old building where people don't live there anymore. It would always be the highest floor you've chosen, just so no one could find or kidnap you. Though you doubt that'll happen…

You've become very used to this as your daily routine and as 2 years pass by, you've found yourself growing inch by inch and became expertly good at stealing… That is, until…

_2 years later…_

You went to a grocery store when you felt yourself craving to steal another one of the chocolate bar called Kit Kat. You bring your duffel bag with you as usual since that is always useful to you when it comes to stealing. You've turn 4 years old. You notice you've gained a few physical change with your hair growing a bit long, your height growing 3 inch taller, and you gain just a few pounds since all that sweets you've been stealing got lots of calories. But you still remain cute…

You went into the aisles which consist of all kinds of chocolate sweets such as **Cookies**, **O****r****e****o**, **Hershey**, **Milky Way bar**, **Fudgy bar****,** **M****&****M****'****s****, ****White Toblerone, ****Chocolate Toblerone****, ****Goya bar****, ****Cadbury****, **etc… All those you already tasted but never get tired of them. You're lucky that there's few people at the stores today since many people are at work so this can be use to your advantage.

You slowly begin to open your duffle bag and give it a small space so that people here at that store won't notice that your stealing, and quickly grab a handful of Kit Kat bars, next to that, your favorite **Galaxy Bar, **yum yum! **Flakes** comes next, followed by **Crunchies,** then some **Tobleromes****, ****Cadbury****, O****r****e****o****, ****Chips Delight****, **and many more. When you think that you had enough, you decided to go for the cooler aisle to grab or steal some drinks, such as Chocolate milk, Strawberry milk, and Vanilla flavored milk.

You grab the three before getting out of everyone's view and went into a safe place where you quickly stuff the three inside your duffel bag. There… That should do it! Since your duffle bag is slight heavy enough, you think it's now the best time to escape or leave the store looking innocent. Once you almost reach the doorway to safety with the most innocent look on your cute face you can muster, there was a guard who stop you with a hand.

"Hold it young lady" he said in a deep commanding tone that sends shiver through your spine.

You froze and gulp before looking up and stare at the tall guard who gave you a suspicious look.

"What's inside your bag?'' he ask, more like stated.

This brings fear in you so you gave him the most innocent curious eyes you could muster, like asking him _'Why do you want to know?'_

But that doesn't give him any effect since he still gives you the suspicious stare… The next thing he says brings you into a great terror…

"May I see what's inside your bag young lady?" he ask, more like demanded.

Your heart starts beating faster that you swear you could almost hear it while staring at his narrowed eyes. With great fear, you shook your head 'no' and gave him a glare that clearly states 'Mind your own business!' while clutching your duffle bag against you protectively. Your action only makes it more suspicious…

The scary tall guard man gave you back a glare before angrily extend his hand and gave a commanding tone "**If** you wouldn't mind, may I just check your bag for a moment **please**?" Some people are now staring, might be because of the loud tone this stupid man is giving.

You still kept your glare and stood defensively, stubbornly shaking your head 'no'. The guard man sighs in frustration before saying "Young lady, (_'Stop calling me young lady!' _you thought angrily) in this store, customers are oblige to have their bag's inspected or check out before entering the store ('_But I was about to leave you stupid man!' _you thought angrily) (You wanted to argue, but you have no voice) So in case you have already been check by one of the staff, you are still required to have your bag checked by one of the policy's law before leaving the store just to make sure you aren't _Shopstealing_'' he emphasis the word 'Shopstealing' to make state to his statement.

"Now are we clear?" he asks in a fake professional tone. You frown at him but didn't answer. Then to add another fear, another guard approaches him and looks at you and your duffle bag in amuse. Your doom…

"Something wrong Isa?" he ask in an amuse tone. This man 'Isa' looks at you suspicious before looking at the other guard "This young lady here ("_Eurgh! Stop calling me that!_" you shouted in your head) refuse to let me check out her bag before she leaves out the store until I told her the rules about 'Consumer Law' but still refuse to let me."

The other guard looks amuse by this whole situation before turning at you with a smirk

"Now little girl, (You cringe at his nickname to you) just let him check out your bag before letting you leave because that's how the rules goes…" he stated cockily which only makes your glare deepens before he added

"Got it memorized?"

You narrow your eyes at the two of them before shrugging and tried to make a run for it but the cocky red haired guard caught you with a smirk and shook his head in amuse "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you're not planning to run away from us are you?" you only gave him a glare in respond and let out a soundlessly gasp when you felt your duffel bag is being grab by this guard named Isa. Your eyes widen in fear, when you saw Isa opening up your bag and check out what's inside.

You were frozen in spot, too shock to move from your position when the guard open wide the bag and examining it. You close your eyes in defeat… Until you hear,

"Clothes?"

_Huh?_

"Huh?'' asked the guard who was still holding you before releasing you to check out what the guard Isa meant. He went to also check out what's inside your bag and also saw "Clothes?"

They both looked at you in surprise and you look back at them just as surprise too until realization hits you.

Oh right! You remember wrapping up your stolen goods properly with your clothes without it being seen so that you could block the beeping machine…

You smirk and nod. Happy that those two clueless guards did not acknowledge your _smart _'secret'. Isa sighs in defeat before nodding and closing your entire bag up and hand it to the red haired guard to give it to you.

"Here Lea, just give it back to her…" Lea the red haired guard grins and nods before handing it to you. "See? I know you're innocent!" Lea ruffles your hair before standing straight. You quickly move past him and Isa and glad you weren't caught thanks to your genius brain.

You went to the park just like you always did after you're 'Shopstealing' and sat on a perfect spot just behind the tree. You were already use to see some families hanging out here and always tend to ignore them and then focus on your sweet treats. So you went to open up your bag and unwrap all the chocolate stolen goodies from your clothes which look very crumple and select **Flakes **first.

You watched the fountaun as usual when you were eating and try to compose yourself before searching for a place to sleep in for the night.

You were in a daydreaming state, half of your stealing chocolate were already gone when suddenly a shadow lures over you, blocking your view of the fountain and when you look up, your eyes instantly grew wild in surprise when you saw the _girl _from the junkyard who threw some of your clothes on the ground, standing there in front of you! You sat frozen and blink repeatedly, thinking maybe your hallucinating but you aren't!

She glares at you and quickly snatches away your half finish bar before throwing it far away, letting it hit the ground. You look at it surprise and look at her in 'Are you crazy look?' but she still continues to glare at you.

You slowly stood up and shook in anger and were about to tackle her to the ground when a group of homeless kids from before all surrounded you… You look around in fear and surprise before turning at the girl who smirks. They have followed you the whole time!

With this, you grew fear and never expect to face them again. So you quickly grab your duffle bag beside you and made a run for it! Only to be followed by the street children and the tall girl who appears to be their leader.

You haven't seen them in 3 years so this is a whole lot new to you. You realize that the kids also change through their height, hair, weight, and face and even grown stronger! They were running so fast and there's too many of them and one you! But their leader seems to be the fastest since she's in the lead ahead of her followers.

You're doomed…

_*Pant*_

_*Pant*_

_*Pant* _

This is like a déjà vu to you. Like time repeats itself only making it a lot more difficult. You were panting (soundlessly) as you were running, tears threaten to escape. You were running out of breath and felt the urge to find a place to hide away from those little monsters. You run as fast as you can, trying to be as far away from **them** as possible. You can feel your heart beating faster that matches along your running footstep. Too bad there's only few people on the park today…

When you almost reach out of the park, you were now in an empty street way where there's absolute no one in sight. Fear overtook you so you were now in a panic-state. And in a panic state, you don't know what to do anymore so you decided you defend yourself by hitting one of the kids and children with your duffel back as you cried. There just like **12 **of them!

The kids you were trying to hit block and shielded themselves with their arms cross in front of them as you continued to weakly hit them since you were running out of strength from all that running…

You were suddenly tackled to the ground where your face almost got hit by the pavement but thankfully it didn't and turn your head to see the tall girl straddle you from behind! Your eyes began to grew red as you watch the rest of the 11 kids playing with your duffel bag, taking out whatever it is inside and claiming it as theirs… Some even tried to declare a tug of war for the chocolates you stole and saw that the rest of them were wildly digging out your duffel bag, leaving it almost empty, even your clothes are gone…

You struggled to get free from the tall girl who was sitting on top of you while holding your arms behind you in an iron grip as you cried with no voice for them to stop. Tears continuingly spilling and your mouth desperately trying to find the sound of the voice to be heard…

It was hopeless… Your weak, tired and your nonexistent voice doesn't help at all…

You could only watch in full tears as the kids continue to play with your all your stuff.

Until the girl on top of you commanded them to scram to your surprise. The 11 kids obediently run off all the way back to the park. When their finally out of sight, the tall girl got off you and dusted herself off, though she's already a filthy rat, it just a waste of effort so it's no use. You slowly sat up and watch her in a sad curious puffy eyes. When she is done 'dusting' herself off, she did something that made you surprise…

_She tore your now empty duffel bag and ripped it off like a fierce animal… Making it too useless to be used by its defeated owner._

Your eyes widen in surprise and you weakly stood up and run into her, trying to push her away in a means of stopping her but she shove you hard that your bum hit the ground. 'Ouch!'

She continues to break your duffle bag into entire pieces until she is satisfied and threw the rest of the pieces to your face in a glare before turning around and leaves you heartbroken…

You sat there stunned for a very long time until you finally break down…

_It's over… _

_Your only 'friend' is now dead and it's officially over…_

_Your 'friend' was the only one that makes you survive for the past 3 years and now it's over…_

_It's over….._

_It's over…_

_It's…over…._

* * *

><p><em><strong>A man in a long white robe walked into the very empty streets and thought he saw a small figure shaking. With his curiosity, he decided to approach the shaking figure and froze when he caught a full view of her… It was a young girl, look to be the age of 4 or so and saw her shaking uncontrollably with her hands covering her face. A strong sadness swept over him so he decided to approach her and ask "Hey… What's a young little girl like you doing in street here all alone?" he asked in concern. The girl stops shaking but still covered her face. The man frowns then decided to ask another question <strong>_

"_**Where are your parents?" **_

_**At this question, the girl shakes again uncontrollable which cause the man to frown and almost felt like he knew what happened.**_

"_**They… They left you didn't they?" he ask hesitantly in a sad voice. The girl stops shaking and slowly removes her hand to reveal a red puffy eyes from too much crying. She look at him for one second before looking down and sadly nods. **_

_**The man gasp in surprise and he looks at her in disbelief. She's way too young to be abandoned…he thought as he watch her tears slowly dripping out from her eyes, almost running dry…**_

"_**What is your name?" he asked in concern. **_

_**The girl frowns at him before hesitantly grab his palm shakily and spelled her named. Her parents taught her how to spell her name when she was young, so she's glad she still remembers. The man studies her moving finger that indicated a letter to her name.**_

"_**~~~~?'' **_

_**The girl nods curtly, still avoiding her eyes. **_

_**The man gently places a hand on her chin and lifts it up so that he can see her. "You can't talk, do you?"**_

_**She slowly nods which makes the man's frown deepens… 'So she's mute' he thought. He now knows the true reason why her parents abandoned her. He studies her for a bit, thinking that maybe he should adopt her since he feels so much sympathy for her. She looks too much depress and weak. He can sense her aura growing darker and darker, telling him that she has no more hope to live…**_

_**But he's determined to change that.**_

_**He places his hand on her narrow shoulder and sadly smiles to her,**_

"_**Come…"**_

_**The girl looks up at him in confuse. **_

"_**You're coming home with me…" **_

_**The girl looks at him fully surprise and a bit of disbelief, her eyes saying 'Are you sure?' **_

_**The man nods and smiles at her, determine to change her life. He stood up and offered her his hand which she reluctantly took.**_

_**Should she trust him?**_

_**The man smiles once again and leads her to his place that is called The Land of Departure…**_

_Present_

When Terra, Aqua and Ventus already knew that you're mute, they instantly knew why your parents abandoned you but doesn't push the subject.

Nevertheless, they still welcomed you in a warm embraced and continued to treat you the same with kindness and love as they showed you around the Castle with a warm smile… You knew you loved them already. Everything you viewed from this Castle was enchanted and rich. You love the large dining room, the main room that has a foyer with some furnitures, the huge kitchen, the throne room, the long hallways that has plenty of rooms such as the library, Eraques' study room and suite, the rich polished bathrooms, Aqua's very neat and orderly room, Terra's nice and clean room, Ven's little messy yet cool room. They even have a secret chamber. You find it hard to believe that you're going to be living here with the nicest people you've ever met.

During halfway of the tour, Terra declared that it's time that he should be making dinner and ask Ven to help him, Ven groans and reluctantly followed him before saying goodbye first to you with a smile before telling Aqua not to be boring while touring you. Aqua glares and told him to scram (Ven chuckles before he left) before smiling sweetly at you. They already showed you everywhere inside the castle so now Aqua only needs to show you your room.

Aqua opens a door for you which is your 'supposed' room and told you to go in. You entered the room and look around in awe… The room that you're gonna have to be living has a very cute princess-like bed which is pink at the corner where a huge window with a star design curtains that is color red tied to the sides to let you view outside the castle. And from what you can see through that huge window, was the almost dark sky above that sent glitters of little light that came from the stars, making you feel like you're in an enchanted kingdom.

Your room has two large closets, each on the other side with a round heart shaped table that is color red and a cute pink plushy chair beside it. To summarize it, your room is cute! Just like you!

Aqua looks your awe face in an amuse look and couldn't help but giggle at how cute you look at the moment. "Like it?" she asked amused.

You look at her with a smile and nod.

Aqua smiles, then walks up to you, placing a hand on your shoulder "I'm glad you like it. I'm thankful that we had an extra room for you to sleep in. But now, since your living with us, this is now declared as 'your' room and nobody can ever have this." she giggles before continuing "Plus, I think this room really suits you. Since its design to look 'cute' just like you." You instantly blush at the comment and look down.

Aqua laughs the pat your head in a loving manner,

"Well, I'll be heading to the kitchen now to make sure Terra and Ven don't burn anything." You laugh at her statement and nod in understand.

Aqua smiles then ask "So do you want anything? Like water or some juice to drink before I return back so you can start your shower?"

'_Yes, I want some milk, please" _you silently plead but knew she can't hear you since your mute so you smile and shook your head 'no', even though you're thirsty. You're just too shy to ask anything more since they already been nice to you.

Aqua looks at you unsurely before frowning slightly. "Are… you sure?"

"_No…"_

You smile again in reassurance before nodding.

Aqua nods and smiles "Okay then… I'll be back in a few minutes. Please make yourself at home okay?"

You nod once again with a smile before Aqua left you, closing your door so that you can have some privacy.

You look around for a while, liking the sudden change of what just happened. You like the new change. You like Eraques and are very thankful of him for deciding to take you. You even like Terra, Aqua and Ventus, then you remember to just call him Ven so you'll keep that in mind from now on.

You plop down into your bed and relax against the soft mattress. You smile to yourself, happy that you were able to get another new beginning with a new home, new family and new life…

New life found


	3. Chapter 3

_~~~~~'s Room __*****_

Aqua came back after a few a minutes and brought you a glass of cold water (to your relief since you were so _thirsty_!) You quickly sat up from your bed and smile sweetly at her. Truly appreciate for the kind and helpfulness she's has done to you.

"Here…'' she handed you the glass.

You took it and mouthed 'thank you' before drinking it. Aqua watches you gulping down the liquid. Once you're done, you place it on the small round table across from you then look at her.

"Let's go to my room, I can offer you some of my clothes that aren't fitting me anymore after your bath. And can use one of my towels that's been unused so that I can dry you up." she said.

You nod curtly, not really sure if you would feel comfortable for letting her bathing you. But she's nice, why so nervous? So you stood up and took her hand that she offered you, before leading you out and to her room.

You were both now walking on the hallway, still holding hands as she leads you to her room.

"Today's dinner is going to be roasted turkey." she stated smiling.

'_Roasted turkey? What does it look like?' _you thought.

"Have you ever tried eating roasted turkey?" she asks at you interested.

You shook your head 'no', wondering what this '**roasted turkey' **tasted like…

Aqua smiles, "Well, tonight you're gonna try it! You see, if you ever tried** roasted chicken** before, the taste of the roasted turkey will remind you of the taste of a roasted chicken,'' you look at her in interest, ears willing to hear more.

"You see… the taste of a roasted chicken and a roasted turkey almost tastes similar. Once you try having a first bite of the roasted turkey tonight, you instantly felt like you're eating a roasted chicken instead…" she stated.

Oh… so chicken and turkey are similar. Maybe they are siblings…. No wait, what if they are somewhat related? Like maybe cousins, or ancestors? Argh, who cares?

Aqua laughs sheepishly before looking down at you "Just wait till you try it. I'm sure you'll love it!" You nod with a smile.

You wanted to say something… You want to talk to her. But you can't. You're _mute_. You really like this girl… You felt like you knew her already. And you even want to get to know her better.

"Here we are." she stated. You look up and saw that you two were already in front of her room.

There already? That was fast… Maybe you're too caught up in your thought that you didn't realize how fast you two walked.

She pulls you inside and closes her door before setting you down to sit on her bed. You watch her rummaging around through her closet.

"Hmm…" she held up a towel that is too big and examines it. She throws it down and mumbled "Too big…" before rummaging again.

She pick up another towel and held it up, before turning to you and look between the large towel and you and back again. She throws it down muttering "Too large'' before rummaging through her closet once again.

"Too huge..." *throws*

"Too small..." *throws*

"Too tiny…" *throws*

You watched her in a sweat drop as she throws each of her towels next to the others while some on top, almost creating a pile of mess as she mutters how one of the towels are _Too short, Too tiny, Too long _for you. Until she finally held up a towel then smiles…

"_Perfect_."

She turns to you where you can see her holding a towel that is a _medium _size. She places it on top of the bed just beside you before returning to her closet. After a few seconds, she took out a few clothes that look too small and just about your size and a few shorts.

She returned to your side and places the few clothes beside you, right next to your towel. You saw her selecting what kind of clothes you should wear after checking one out and sometimes taking a few glance at you before finally deciding that you should wear a short sleeve white t-shirt that reaches until your hips and a color orange short that reach until your knees. She puts the rest on her bed while placing the selected clothes for you to wear on top of the towel.

She took the towel with the clothes on top before smiling at you, "I guess we're done here. Let's go." You nod and stood up, following her to exit the room until she stops.

"Oh! Wait here…" she instructs.

You look at her questioningly as you watch her returning to her closet to get something. After a few seconds, she came back to your side and leads the way out, when you saw what's on the top of the clothes that instantly makes you **blush**.

It's an _underwear_…!

* * *

><p>You both entered inside a white luxury bathroom. Aqua shuts the door and locks it, before turning and went to place the towel and clothes she's holding on one of the bathroom shelves.<p>

She went to the heart-shape tub which has been place under the ground and turn on the taps. Water came rushing out and Aqua immediately snuck her hand through to check the temperature with concentration. Until it was warm enough, she took her hand out and then stood up. Water now filling the bathtub…

"It's time for you to get undress now…" she stated.

Uh Oh… You don't like the sound of this. You were never used to being seen naked in front of other people other than your mom…

_Mom…_

Forget her. She's no longer part of your life now. She _left_ you remember?

Aqua saw you're hesitant look before giggling and kneeling down on her knees in front of you.

"Don't be shy!" she stated in amuse. "I won't gonna hurt you. Plus, I'm a _female_, just like you. We're both of the same gender. So there's nothing to be ashamed of." she smiles at you reassuringly.

You saw that she was looking at you with the sweet smile and caring eyes. That was also the same look you're mother was giving you when she was trying to reassure or calm you, which always work.

No! Stop thinking of your mother!

She **hates** and _disowns_ you and that look she was giving you before was only **fake**.

While Aqua's true and _real…._

With that thought, you nodded your head and let her gently lift your dirty clothe off. Now you were topless in front of her, you slowly began to feel comfortable with her. You then help her took off your short, together with your panty as she places them right next to your dirty clothe before lifting you up (to your surprise) and placing you on the now filled bathtub.

The water now emerging all around you felt soothingly warm. Like all of your stress since the 'running' incident had vanished and replaces it with deep comfort.

Aqua kneels down behind and bents her head over to look at you down with a smile.

"Do you like it?" she asked with full amuse.

You smile back and nod happily. Aqua chuckles before ruffling your hair gently "I'm glad you do" before standing up and went to one of the bathroom shelves to get something. You watch her taking out which seems to be a bottle and before heading back towards the tub. She took out its cover before pouring down some oil from the bottle where you can faintly smell a pleasant scent coming out.

Once she's done, she places back the cover of the bottle and stated with a smile "That's a pouring scent that is used for bathtubs so people can enjoy the soothing smell of its fragrance."

A pleasant aroma of scent flows around the air that makes you wonder what kind of aroma she just used. As if reading your mind, she answered, "That smell is called 'Lavender'. It's one of my favorites... I always use it whenever I took a bath and would like to share some with you." she smiles.

Lavender eh…? It smells wonderful! Now Lavender is also your favorite! _Thanks Aqua! _You thought happily.

You smile in a graceful smile to show her how much you appreciate for what she did and shared as she giggles and nod, "No problem… Would you like some bubble bath too? It's also one of my favorites!"

Bubble bath...? Heck, why not?

You nod excitedly, almost grinning at the fact that you'll finally once again bath in bubbles…

Aqua grins, "Coming right up!" she quickly approach to grab another bottle which you assume to be Bubble Bath bottle before heading back to the tub and pouring the liquid down,

"Here we go!"

You watch in awe as she continues to pour until it's enough then setting the Bubble Bath bottle back to the shelve before grabbing a mild cleanse soap and shampoo. She walk back to your side with a smile and said "Sway your hands underwater to form a bubble."

You did what she had instructs, you happily sway your hands below the water to see a bubbles began to form and let out a silent gasp when you saw bubbles begin forming out. Aqua smiles and grabs it, before blowing it towards your face which causes sit to pop. You instantly shut your eyes to avoid letting the soapy bubbles getting in when you heard Aqua laughs in apology and said "Sorry."

You open your eyes to try and comply to her that 'it is okay' when you saw her stood up and reach behind you. She kneels down and places both of her hands on each side of your shoulder and said "I'm going to start shampooing and bath you okay? Just keep swaying so that _more_ bubbles will start to form!'' You nod happily and keep swaying your hands, unable to get enough of the bubbles since bubbles are your favorites.

Aqua began scrubbing your shoulder with soap after splitting your hair into half before turning it over your shoulders so that she can scrub your back.

The way she grabs your back with soap makes you feel so loved and unique. Because she did it so tenderly as like she truly cares about you… more than your mother.

Eugh! Forget your mother! She's no longer a part of your life so woe her.

You keep swaying and watch in delight as bubbles continue to move just about everywhere. You also enjoy the fragrance that still lingers around the entire area. This is all too good to be true…

Aqua giggles as she reaches and grabs your right arm to scrub it "You know…"

You look at her in wonder and happy at the same time,

"I also love bubbles, just like you. Since I was a child, just like your age, I started growing attached to playing with bubbles and never grew tired of it… (She chuckles) And up to now, even though I'm already a _grown-up_, I still love playing with bubbles,"

You smile at that statement. You kind of want to agree with her at the moment… Who doesn't love bubbles?

"But you know what? You're the first person I ever told you that I love bubbles… Cause I've been keeping this as a _secret_ to everybody I know and don't want to end up embarrass." she said smiling as she chuckles before reaching to grab your other arm to scrub.

"Except for you of course, I've already trusted you."

You smile sweetly at her in appreciated as she smiles back giggling. "Now can you raise your head and go lower? I need your hair to get wet so that I can start shampooing it..." she request.

You nod in polite before raising your head to almost see Aqua's face and lower yourself until the water reach up to your chin. Aqua helps you by reaching your upper head and pours some water from her palms where she got it from the tub. The water and air smells so good… Making you feel like you're already in heaven.

"Now reach up" she instruct

You did so and felt her begin to pour a small amount of liquid of shampoo that smells so _good_ and started rinsing your hair gently. She begins to massage your scalp thoroughly with a bit of gentleness before rubbing it smoothly… The way she handles your scalp and hair puts you into a relaxation-mode that made you felt like you're about to be in a sleeping-state soon.

You try to fight back the sleepiness that slowly engulfs you, but find it hard to when how the way Aqua massages and rubs your scalp and hair at the same time.

Just when you're about to close your eyes, there's a sudden loud knock on the door which made you and Aqua jump in surprise instantly.

"Aqua! The roasted turkey is already finished!" Ven called from outside the door.

This made Aqua snap her eyes wide and exclaim "What?"

Silence….

When no response, Aqua sat up straight and looks at the door in a mix of panic, surprise and anger… "Ven! What happened to the turkey? And what do you mean **already **_**finished**_?" she ask, clearly in a state of panic.

Silence….

Aqua waited….

Silence….

Aqua grew impatient and called again, "Ven! Where's the turkey?"

Another silence…which becomes short after a sudden 'snort' noise appears behind the door, causing Aqua to lift her brow. Even you became curious.

This time another snort which is a louder one appears again from the door before being followed by a sound of laughter.

"Huh? Ven?"

Aqua looks even more confuse when Ven's laugh became louder.

Aqua narrows her eyes at the door before calling "Ven! What's going on?"

"I-I-ah AHAHAHA I w-was (snorts) o-o-oh (in hales) kidding!"

"Wha~?"

"The (exhales) t-t-tt-turk(chuckles), (takes another breath) The tur-k-k-keey…. AHAHAHAHAHAHA Ahhhoooowww….."

"What?"

Ven took a deep breath from behind the door to regain his composure before chuckling

"W-What I'm _really_ about to say is…. Ahem. (Clears throat before chuckling) The turkey is already _done_…" he finished.

Aqua looks relief and sign, before realizing something, "Wait a sec… You mean the turkey is already _finished_?"

"That's what I said earlier…'' Ven stated.

This made Aqua blush and stutter "O-Oh right… W-Well, we're almost done. Thanks for uh… **telling **us." she said as she continues to rub your now filled hair with bubbles from the shampoo. The bubbles from above your head is now slowly dripping to your forehead which makes you feel uneasy a bit since it can almost reach through your eyes.

Ven chuckles and said "Well, you better hurry, or the roasted turkey will be _finished _in a _**minute.**__"_

Aqua frowns, "And how about ~~~~~? What will she eat?"

"Oh, we'll _save_ her some of course. I don't know about you though, will you be able to make it?" he teases, planning to eat her turkey if she doesn't hurry.

Aqua glares. "Yeah I will…" she said sarcastically "But how about _you_? Will you be able to _make _it?"

Ven seems to know what she means so he chuckles awkwardly and quickly changes the subject, "Oh! Better hurry! Don't want the turkey to turn cold do we? Hehe, later!" he left.

After he left, Aqua then realize your hair is now full of bubbles, just like the water and gasp "Oh! Sorry! I almost forgot about you, ehehe, blame it on Ven, his distracting…" You smile, indicating that 'its okay.' as she quickly tilts your head back so that the bubbles and shampoo on your hair will condense away, then rinsing it.

"Ven said dinner is ready, so we have hurry. I'm sure you're excited to see what it tastes like. Which I assume you it also tastes like roasted chicken." she stated.

At the mention of the words **roasted turkey **and **chicken, **you suddenly grow hungry and to make matters worse, your stomach started to rumble… Loud enough to let Aqua hears it… Which cause your face to blush as red as tomato.

Aqua laughs amusingly, "Oh! I bet you're already hungry! Sorry! Guess I better hurry and get you dressed. Plus, we don't want the roasted turkey to turn cold do we?"

You smile and shook your head '_Of course not' _you thought.

* * *

><p>When Aqua quickly finishes rinsing your hair, rinsing your skin, helping you out of the tub, draining the tub, returning the soap and shampoo, quickly drying you with a towel, and then helping you getting dress from the clothes she have chosen for you, she leads you back to her room so that she can brush your wet unruly hair.<p>

When you both entered from her very neat and orderly to very mess and disorderly room, she sat you down on her blue steel chair before grabbing a blue brush from her navy blue dresser. She stood beside you and began combing your hair gently starting from tip to root, making sure not to hurt you. You saw your reflection staring back at you (and notice how cute you are), Aqua standing behind you, brushing your colored - hair with steady movement.

"You really had a nice smooth hair…" she compliments, smiling as she strokes your hair to feel the smoothness.

You blush, never really had thought of that. You wanted to say 'Thanks' and 'You too' but no sound would come out so you decided to turn so that you could point to her hair.

She smiles at you, knowing what you meant and says "Aw… thank you. You're sweet…" she states. You blush a little when she called you sweet when actually she's the one who's sweet. So you shook your head 'no' and pointed at her to emphasis that she is the one who is sweet. Aqua understood what you meant and giggles, still brushing your hair and said "Maybe we're both sweet… No, we _are _already sweet. I am the _sweet_, and you are the _sweet heart_… how about that?"

You blush. Sweet heart…? You…? You've never did anything sweet back to them so why did she called you sweet heart? She's probably just kidding.

"There!"

You look at yourself at the mirror to see your hair have already been tidy and tangle and smile at her in 'Thanks'.

"Just look at you… You look so adorable." she compliments you again, placing both of her hands on each side of your shoulder as she looks at you through the mirror. She leans down and sniffle you, "And you smell good." You hesitantly glance at your reflection to see a different girl. That 'girl' looks like a stranger to you. Though that girl is you, you felt like you don't recognize yourself anymore. You were use being the 'old' you, who combs her hair from a dirty brush she stolen once a day, who takes a bath every night in some dirty old building's bathroom with only using water, who's wear the same clothes at least for 3 to 4 days before changing it to another one, plus, you were use to your 'smell'. Now the 'new' you look complete opposite to the 'old' you… You were now about to brush your hair more than twice a day, take a bath with soap and shampoo, wear clean and new clothes ,no longer have to tolerate your 'smell', and to be able to finally live in a permanent home with 4 nice people to take care of you.

"Come on… I bet you're already starving. Let's go to the dining room."

You nod and stood up, before taking her offered hand and her leading the both of you out of her room to the dining room to **finally **eat the _**roasted turkey**_.

* * *

><p><em>Dining Room *****<em>

When you and Aqua headed inside the dining room, you saw Eraques already sitting on one of the chairs in front of the large dining table, reading a book that looks to be coming from his Study room. Terra is carrying a stainless steel tray that lays upon it is a **huge **yummy looking grilled **roasted turkey**. Ven is busy setting the utensils on the table while holding a white water pitcher. Eraques was the first to see you and smile,

"Ah, there you are… I've been waiting for you," you smile back in greet and fight back the drool that is slowly forming in your mouth from the sight and strong smell of the _roasted turkey. _

"Looks like Aqua really did take good care of you…" he compliments,

Aqua smiles "I did have fun taking care of her, that's why it took so long for us to finish."

Eraques nods and examines you "I see… You did a great job Aqua. Now she looks fresh and clean and more cheerful."

Aqua gently leads you to the dining table as you were greeted by a smiling Terra "Why hello there… I hope you're prepared to try my already made turkey."

You smile '_Don't mind if I do."_

Aqua sat you down on the chair beside Eraques who's on your right and took a seat beside you on your left. You're now sitting in between Aqua and Eraques as you watch Terra and Ven sat across from you three. Ven across to you while Terra across to Master Eraques.

Ven smiles and waves at you "Hello,"

You smile and shyly wave back.

Eraques stood up and grabs a long sharp looking knife that was set beside the _turkey_ before slicing it. You look at the grilled roasted turkey thinking '_Mind if I have the __**whole**__?_' as you watch him giving a fair amount to Terra who was already to his feet and handed him his and Ven's place so that Eraques could place their amount of slice turkey on it.

Terra handed Ven his plate back before leaning in to get some rice from a large bowl. After collecting a fair portion of rice, he pushes the large bowl of rice to Ven so that he can place his own amount of rice on his plate.

Eraques cuts another slice of turkey meat before setting a fair amount on his own plate, then grabs your plate to set a _large _amount of turkey meat on it before grabbing Aqua's plate who handed it to him to place a decent amount on hers. Out of the corner of your eyes, you thought you've seen Ven placing a _huge _portion of rice on his own plate, before pushing it back to the center.

Aqua stood up and grabs she's and your plate then reach the bowl of rice before setting rice on your plate first then hers.

"Ah!''

Everyone turns at Ven to see him wincing while dropping his spoon of rice with some piece of turkey meat back to his plate.

"This rice is too _hot_!" he exclaims, blowing his mouth time to time to retrieve some cool air to get rid of the burning sensation he felt on his tongue. His face slightly turns red.

Terra and Aqua laughs while Eraques smiles in amuse. You only gave a horrified look since you thought something bad is going to happen to him.

"That's because you're eating too _fast_…" tease Terra as Aqua giggles.

Ven's face beginning to flush "And so _what_? I was only just about to grab a bite when _you're _**rice** suddenly turns into a _chilly rice_!" he defends.

"Maybe because you _forgot_ to _blow_ before eating it." stated Aqua in amuse.

Ven's face turns redder then looks away before muttering "I didn't know that.."

Eraques smiles and called "Well everyone, let's dine in!"

Everyone starts dining in. You look at your plate filled with too much rice and turkey slice and wonder how to cut the turkey slice into tiny pieces of chunk. You secretly look to your right and study the way how Eraques uses his knife and fork. He elegantly _stabs _his _fork_ on his turkey to keep it at its place before uses his _knive_ to _slice _and_ dice _chunk of meat. There you see a tiny chunk of pieces sliding out before he places them on his spoon that has rice with his fork before raising the spoon to his now open mouth and munch it. You memorize his movements.

Oh… So that's how they do it.

You begin to imitate by grabbing your knife and fork and were about to stab your turkey when Ven speaks,

"Ah…Aqua?"

Aqua looks up from her plate

"Weren't you suppose to help her?" he states, gesturing at you, who was about to imitate Eraques.

Aqua's eyes widen in realization then looks at you,

"Oh!" she leans over and took the knife and fork from your hands muttering "Sorry" before doing the stabbing, slicing and dicing for you.

"Here, let me help" she offered.

Ven covers his mouth and snickers. Aqua looks at him and narrows her eyes but didn't say anything.

"So…" Eraques started

"Do you like your new home ~~~~~?" he asks you, smiling.

You smile politely and nod. '_Absolutely_' you thought.

"And your room?" he continue asking with the same smile.

You nod again, face still covered with a smile.

"How about my turkey?" ask Terra, also trying to get a conversation with you too.

Ven quickly snaps his head at him and gave him a weird look. "She hasn't taste it yet."

Terra's eyes widen in realization before he laughs awkwardly and mutters "Oh… Right, sorry"

Aqua finishes slicing your turkey which now all turned into tiny pieces of chunks and smiles at you "Do you want me to feed you?"

That question suddenly froze you. Thinking of being fed in public makes you feel uneasy. You gulp and were about to smile in apologetically and shook your head no when Terra answers that question for you, "I think she can feed her own just fine Aqua."

Aqua looks at you unsurely until you decide that it's the best time to give her your apologetic smile and shook your head no. When you did, Aqua understood saying "Oh… Okay" before resuming to her food. When you turn to look at Terra, you saw him giving you a smile with a nod, giving you secret wink which makes you smile back in 'Thanks' . So he sensed your uneasiness and saved you. You truly appreciated that. If only you could talk to show how much you are graceful to him…

You finally began to eat just like the rest of them, **finally **be able to taste the _roasted turkey_. Oh boy oh boy oh boy! The _moment _you've been waiting for since Aqua mention **roasted turkey. **You wondered if it really tasted just like _chicken… _**roasted chicken **she mentioned. You gracefully set the chicken er.. _turkey _on your spoon with your fork and collect some rice too before setting it into your watery mouth.

_*munch*_

With just first bite, you can instantly taste the greasiness and deliciousness of the turkey that makes you feel like you're savouring **grilled chicken **instead.

*_munch* _

Wow…. This is _perfect_! This roasted turkey is the _**best**_ _roasted turkey _you ever tasted! Though it is your first time…

*_munch* *chew* *munch* *chew* *munch* chew* *munch* *chew* _and then _*swallows*_

When you look up, you _froze_…

Everybody is _staring _at **you**. Which, of course… made you blush.

They laugh whole-heartedly at your embarrass face. "It's okay… We only wanted to see how you'll react to Terra's turkey. It's delicious isn't it?" stated Eraqus smiling with his eyes close.

You smile slyly and nod curtly. Terra, Aqua and Ven laughs in amusingly. Aqua places her hand on your left shoulder and asks "It tastes like _chicken_ right?"

You smile at her and nod '_Exactly_!' you thought.

Terra clears his throat, trying get all of your attention and ask "So do you like my turkey?"

You smile wildly and nod, giving a 'thumbs' up to indicate that you _really _love his turkey.

Everyone laughs again in amuse "I guess she really _loves _the turkey you cooked tonight Terra" Ven stated in a grin.

Aqua giggles and nods in agree, "Yeah, maybe you should be hired as our _chef._" This makes Terra's eyes go widen and you can see him _blush? _You look closely… yes, Terra _just _blushed and it amazes you… You never picture someone like Terra to be a person that would be the type to blush nor seeing him looking embarrass all of the sudden.

Ven chuckles and agrees with Aqua "Yeah… I **think** you should be our _chef_ from now on so that we have someone to always cook us breakfast, lunch and dinner…" he rubs his chin with his hand as he is in deep in thought, "That way we don't have to find ourselves any chefs since we have Terra as a _cooker, _right?"

Terra shifts uncomfortably on his seat then looks up, narrowing his eyes, "Then I could use _you _to be my helping _assistant _whenever I'll be cooking on the kitchen… Hmmm, why not?" he mused while rubbing his chin with his hand while his other arm crosses to his side, as he was thinking.

This time Ven shifts uncomfortably and rubs his neck, "Err you know what? I think maybe chefs are a better idea since they don't require an _assistant_…" he stated while chuckling awkwardly.

Eraques and Aqua laughs in amuse while you in the other hand, agreed of Terra being as a chef so that you could get to taste one of his cook every day.

You resume to you're eating as you watch and enjoy listening to them discussing about Terra's well made **roasted turkey.**

* * *

><p><em>Dining Room *****<em>

You enjoyed eating the turkey the whole time while listening to their conversation. Whenever you're done with your plate, they would always insist that you eat **more** and enjoy the turkey until you are satisfied enough to continue. You would also answer one of their questions with a nod and a shaking head whenever they ask you if you like this or that, want this, are you happy, satisfied, etc…

Right now, you were drinking a stainless glass of water with Aqua as Terra begins to set the already used plates on top of each other with Ven offering to help him. Eraqus stood up and said "That was a wonderful turkey Terra, I think you should be our chef from now on…"

This makes Ven froze.

"Y-you sure…?" ask Terra unsurely.

"No!" exclaimed Ven.

Both Eraques and Terra look at him in shock. Ven rubs behind his neck, avoiding their eyes "Err… Who else would I have ice-cream with?"

They both gave him a weird look, even Aqua.

You're not sure what to do next, so you slowly stood up and hope at least _some _of them would tell you what to do. After all, it's your first stay right?

"I'll be heading back to my room now… Make sure ~~~~ goes to bed before you guys do. Goodnight ~~~~~" he called before turning to leave. Aqua quickly jolt up from her seat and called,

"Master…"

Master turned and gave her a wonderous look.

Aqua looks hesitated before looking at him "Can… Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Eraques looks at her in wonder before nodding, "Oh okay, sure, go ahead" he ushered.

"Alone…" she murmurs.

Eraques seems to understand so he nods and said "Okay. Let's go to my Study…" Aqua nods and follows him. Eraques turns for a moment to look at Terra and Ven. "Terra, please look after ~~~~~ for me."

Terra nods.

Ven looks surprise as he looks up at them in disbelief.

"Wha~? How about me?"

Eraques turns to him, "You… will be washing dishes tonight"

Ven groans "Oh, come on…!"

Terra laughs "Aw come on… It wasn't that hard" he teased. Ven gave him a glare "What about you? Why can't I be the one to look after ~~~~~?" he complains.

Terra smirks "That's because you aren't the one who **cooked** roasted turkey."

Ven gave him a disbelief look "But **I** was the **one** who helped you in the kitchen!"

"Yeah… helping organizing the utensils. But **I** was the **one** who cooked the whole roasted turkey."

Ven sighs in defeat and mutters "Fine…" as Eraques and Aqua watched the whole scene in amuse. Eraques chuckles "Okay… Oh, and Terra, why don't you show ~~~~~ outside? She could use a little fresh air don't you think?" he smiles. Terra nods before turning to you with a smile "Yeah, why don't you hang outside for a while? I heard that there's a meteor shower about to be heading here somewhere from the north…"

Ven stood frozen in his spot.

Eraques nods , "Yes, actually, there **is** gonna be a meteor shower about to be headed this way. I believe it's about to venture here at any moment…"

Ven turns solid.

Eraques turns to you "If you haven't seen meteor shower before, Terra will show you how it looks like okay? Alright, I'll see you in the next day, goodnight." You smile and nod.

Aqua follows Eraques to his Study that makes you wonder what she wanted to talk to him about… She said 'alone', which means she wants to talk to him _alone_. _Pain_ suddenly shoots through your heart when you thought that maybe she wanted him to get **rid** of you since she can't be able to tolerate you anymore because of your muteness.

Your thoughts vanishes quickly when Terra place his hand on your shoulder. He looks down at you with a smile before saying, "Come on, lets go outside." You nod smiling back.

Terra turns to Ven who's now holding the large tray with _everything _on top of it, the plates, glasses, spoons, forks, knifes, and the large bowl. Is that even possible? No, Ven **makes** it look possible.

"Good luck." Terra grins, teasing him. Ven glares and 'hmph' him before turning around to head towards the kitchen that connects to the Dining room.

* * *

><p>You followed Terra who leads you down the steps of the Castle's stair. He gesture for you to sit on one of<p>

steps, you did so then he sat beside you.

The both of you stare up at the sky and view the twinkling stars that bring glittering sparkles of light. _So many stars…. _you thought excitedly as you look up. Outside here, you notice that Land of Departure has plenty of grassy mountains that are surrounded by a flowing of water.

As a child, you still adore the stars and always love to view them since you think stars make wishes come true, or so you heard. You wanted to ask Terra that… sadly, you can't.

You felt a cool breezing air flew right past you which calm your nerves and made you feel more relax.

Terra inhales the cool breezing air before speaking,

"Have you ever heard about the myth of the stars?"

'_Myth of the stars?' _you thought. No… you never heard of them so you shook you're head. Terra smiles "I see… Then, would you like me to tell you a story? About the myth of the star, a story that explains how stars were formed from the beginning…"

You nod smiling, excited to hear the story about the myth of the star.

Terra nods smiling, "Okay. Here's how it goes… _In the beginning, before people, when only animals were on earth, all the animals worked, except for coyote. He was lazy. He merely watched while the other animals put the rivers where they are now, so that there would be water to drink. They made mountains for beauty. They made forests and trees for shade. The animals made grass grow. They created the deserts by putting down sand and all kinds of other rocks. To make the desert attractive they painted rocks pink and yellow and many other colors. They made cactus grow, and then put lakes in different places._

_The animals looked at what they had done and said, "It is not enough." So they made mesas and canyons. They did one more thing. They made hundreds and hundreds of tiny, shiny objects with which they planned to complete their work. But they didn't know what to do with them. Some said, "Put them in the mountains." Some said, "Hang them in the trees." Others said, "Sprinkle them in the dessert." They couldn't all agree. So they left them on the ground and went to bed._

_While they slept, Coyote came to see what they had been up to all day. He sniffed the objects. He picked one up and examined it closely. "What is this good for?" he said. Seeing no use for it, he threw it into the air. "What is this good for?" he said. Then he tossed it over his shoulder. Again he picked up one of the objects."What is this supposed to be?" He threw it away in disgust. He examined each shiny thing, and finding them not good to eat and not useful in any way, he threw them away into the air, until at last there were not any lef_t.

Then he looked up into the sky and saw them where he had thrown them, tiny spots of light in the darkness. This is how the stars came to be where they are now. Coyote, the busybody, is responsible."

Ah…. So that's how stars existed… You look up and view the stars in awe, finally realizing how they came to exist.

Terra chuckles "But you know what, that story is only a **myth**. Do you actually believe that the _animals _were the first one to create the rivers, mountains, desserts, the rocks, trees everything? That's impossible! I mean, how did the animals understood each other when each has its own **different **species with their very own_ sound_?" he rambles, clearly amuse to the myth as he shook his head.

"And I find it hard to believe that the animals can use their _body _to work on building the nature with their _paws, _hands that has no _fingers, claws _that have _sharp _nails, and their small figures…See what I mean?"

Wait. Does that mean it's not true?

"Its _fake_" he answered for you, as if hearing your thoughts.

"The story is fake. That's why it's called a _myth_. A myth only tells a fictional story about how things are formed or how did they even appeared… None of those are true so don't let those _stories_ fool you." he stated.

So its fake. And there you're beginning to believe that all of it is true…

You look back up at the stars and wonder how they really were form in the first place.

"Ever heard of a story that says 'the first star that appears upon the sky can make your wish come true'?" he asks, looking at you. "And if you start telling your wish on that star, will grant you your wishes"

You snap you're head to look at him, very eager to know if that is true as your eyes ask him if the story is true.

He signs again and looks forward, "Well… That's also a myth. I didn't believe it at first, thinking that maybe it wasn't a myth, maybe, that actually _did _work, so I went to set on my first try, searching for the first star that ever appears that night and did my first wish…" he confess as you look up at him in surprise.

"And after telling my first wish to that star, I waited on my wish to come true, just to check if it wasn't really a myth after all, but, after a few more days which turns into a week, I realize that my wish didn't came true… So I finally decided to follow the others that in fact, 'wishing on the first star' was only a mythical mythology. I should really stop being _naïve_."

You frown at him. So it wasn't true? How sad… you've always wanted to make a wish on the first star. But now when Terra explains to you what _myth_ is and how _fake_ the story is. You finally realize how much the truth **hurts**…

Terra laughs, "You know, you're the first person I've ever told that I did the 'wishing' thing…" he confess

You look at him up in surprise as he smiles then grins down at you

"Cause I've been hiding this as a 'secret' so people wouldn't laugh at me to say how childish I was…"

You smile at him, wanting him to know that its okay, all people has a curiosity and always wanted to find out the 'hidden' truth.

"But I think it's okay for me to tell you… because I know I can trust you" he stated, smiling down at you and then ruffles your hair to indicate he feels safe to confess his secret out to you.

You laugh without a sound and grin up at him.

"I'll check on Ven to see if his already done with washing up the dishes just to make sure he doesn't leave any ones undone yet. I'll get back to you okay?"

You nod smiling up at him before he gave you a pat on the head then stood up, turning his back on you before heading up toward the door to enter inside.

You can't help but grown attach to him already… His such a nice guy!

* * *

><p>After a very long while, you wonder what's taking Terra so long as you continue to gaze up the stars, trying to come up with a theory about how stars exist from the very beginning.<p>

As you stare at the sky, you didn't notice that a door was been shut close from the Castle, too busy focusing on watching the stars and trying to figure it out how they were born. You were in deep thought that you didn't realize someone sits beside you.

"Did the meteor shower appear?"

You jump when you didn't realize that someone was already sitting beside you. You turn to see Ven looking at you in an amuse look before laughing "Oh! I'm sorry! Did I scare you?"

Your heart was pounding so quickly and at the same time, you were inhaling and exhaling. You nodded your head at him as you try to calm down.

Ven laughs in apologetically, "I'm really sorry that I scared you. Didn't really mean to… Just thought that you already knew that I'm here so yeah…"

You gave him a reassurance smile to let him know that its okay. He smiles back at you before looking up to see what keeps you busy.

"So you were watching the stars…" he stated in amuse. He chuckles before looking at you "No wonder you're distracted."

You blush. Is it a bad thing to look at the stars?

"It's okay, I understand why you like to look up at the stars. Cause stars are pretty… and so twinkly" he stated as he views the stars.

"I also love looking up at the stars. It's…. kinda strange. Whenever I face the sky while staring at the stars, I already felt so much relax. It meditates me and puts me to a calming state that always ended up with me falling asleep in the end…" he laughs at the end.

You smile at him, somewhat amuse about how stars used to calm him.

"Whenever I have nothing left to do or felt bored, I would always come and spend the rest of my remaining hours here without care on the world…"

He looks up at the sky again and smiles at the stars

"Sometimes I would try to wait for a meteor shower to past by so I could chase it the whole way to see where it headed to…"

You look at him in amuse, interested to hear more of his story. Ven looks at you "Have you ever wonder why Terra didn't return back to you yet?"

You shook your head 'no'.

"That's because I _tricked_ him into telling him that my hands became too sore for me to continue washing the dishes. A secret _excuse_ I used to come see the meteor shower. So I exchange roles with him! This time I'll be the one to look after you instead of him" he grins.

You grin back, thinking that **that** was a pretty clever _trick_ he performs there.

"So now that I have you in my sight. How about I take you to that _place _where I used to wait for the meteor shower?" he suggest happily.

You nod, smiling happily. Excited to see the place where Ven usually stays to watch the sky to wait for the meteor shower.

Ven stood up before kneeling down and took you to his arms, now carrying you. He smiles at you as you smile back before saying "Let's go."

As he was about to turn and walk down steps to take you with him to the place where he usually comes to visit, the door to the castle suddenly opens which cause Ven to stop.

"Ven?"

Ven turns with you still place in his arms and see Eraqus and Aqua standing there.

"Yes?" he asks innocently.

"I think it's time for ~~~~~ to go to bed. She had a long day today and I think it's time for her to take a rest" stated Eraques as Aqua nods.

Ven looks at you unsurely "Do you want to take a rest?"

You look between him and the two. What can you say? The truth is you want Ven to take you to the place where's his going to take you and also wanted to rest at the same time.

When you still didn't answer, Aqua decided to answer for you "I think it's better she should be taking a nap now. Since this morning, I don't think she got any rest until Master Eraqus found her and took her here…"

Ven frowns at you before looking at them "Don't you think it's too early for her to be going to sleep?"

Eraques frowns "Well yes… But for other reason why she should sleep early is because tomorrow you and Aqua will be shopping with her to buy her some new clothes…" he stated.

This causes the both of you to look at each other in surprise. Ven's eyes widen and look at his Master and Aqua "You mean… tomorrow?"

Both Master Eraques and Aqua nod with a smile.

Terra appeared, "What's going on?" he looks at everyone expectedly. Master Eraques turns to him with a smile "Tomorrow Aqua and Ven will be going shopping with ~~~~~ at the mall. Care to tag along?"

Before Terra could answer, Ven answered for him "Yes! Of course! Where's the _fun_ without Terra?" Aqua giggles as Eraqus smiles. Terra looks at Ven in a disbelief look as Ven grins back at him.

Eraques chuckles before he claps his hand. "Well, that'll settle it! Tomorrow the three of you will be taking ~~~~~ to Far Far Away Land where I've heard there are plenty of good clothes their selling there, all have the right sizes for ~~~~~."

Ven raises his brow and looks at him in confuse

"Don't you think that's too far far away to reach to Far Far Away land?"

Eraques just grins and shook his head "Nonsense! I could **teleport** you guys. Don't worry about the shift, I'll take care of you guys. Just find ~~~~ a suitable clothes and stuff she needed to buy."

Aqua looks at him with her brow raise "And how will we be able to return back?"

"Oh I'll just find you guys while you three find settle place to stay…" he stated it like it was nothing.

Terra, Aqua and Ven look at each other in a surprise and disbelief look before Terra speaks "Master… Are you sure…?"

Master Eraques looks at them like they were stupid and said "Of course! _Where_ else should we go? The Land you four are about to be going is one of the most famous land throughout the whole land I knew. Trust me, I've been there before and I've seen **everything** in stores that is hard to _miss_."

"Isn't that the Land that have so many Kingdoms?" asked Terra.

"That's right. And you all could be very lucky if one of you manages to find a way to seek through their castle for a place to stay."

The three of their eyes grew wide in surprise

"You mean…. We have to **sneak** in?" ask Ven in surprise and disbeliefs.

"No no no! What I meant is… the three of you **should** find a way out to settle inside one of the Kingdoms Castle" he explains

"Like how?"

"I don't know! Just beg or _befriend_ them. And if that won't work, then you three gonna have to find at least a _roof _for a shelter"

Terra, Aqua and Ven look at each other uneasy.

Eraques signs "We'll explain this tomorrow… For now, the four of you need to rest." And with that, he left. Aqua approaches and took you out of Ven's arms before saying "Come on ~~~~~, it's bedtime for you."

Ven smiles and waves at you saying, "Goodnight!" as Terra smiles and nod at you farewell.

Aqua took you inside.

* * *

><p><em>~~~~~'s Room <em>_*****_

Aqua gently tugs you in your bed before smiling and ruffling your hair

"There you go. Goodnight!"

You smile up at her and mouthed 'goodnight' back before she turns and going to leave your room.

She stops and turns around, like she forgot to tell you something. "Do you need anything like water, milk, juice or anything to drink?"

_Yes…_

You smile at her before shaking your head no. She looks unsure but takes it anyway

"Alright… Goodnight" she said before gently closing the door.

When she's gone, your eyes slowly begin to feel heavy so you shut it down and sleep this instant.

You were sitting at the park, with your duffle bag sitting beside you and watch the huge water fountain splashes up a large flow of water. You love watching the Water Fountain… Enjoying the way how the water sprinkles from up to down, vice versa, loving the way how it flows freely.

Every time you would go to the park, you would watch each Fountain from time to time while enjoying you're chocolate goodies and drinks that you'd stolen from the store. This is your most favorite routine…

You were already used to living by yourself and used to be seeing families that sometimes used to linger here at the park longer than you. You were now content of living your life the way you should be and somehow you thought of it as _freedom_. Freedom without _parents_. Parents who are no longer there to command nor to instruct you what to do.

You are already _freedom_ without parents. You already can live by yourself and you're become very professional at stealing without making it obvious for people to know.

You smile to yourself and pity the kids who were stuck with their parents from where you can see at the distant. They don't have freedom like you do, they are only _slaves_ to their parents. They have to go to _prison_ which you nickname for **school** and be stuck and tormented there for at least 7 or 8 hours.

You learned from sight that parents would sent their 'slaves' to 'prison' with uniforms and bags and be stuck inside the 'jail' for a tormenting 8 hours or less.

You were glad you were _free. _You are also glad that your parents abandoned you so that you would be able to get free from their torture _plans_. By plans, it would be like letting you _work _for them, making you their _slaves_, obeying by their every command that might end up putting you to a _straight_ line(death), and sending you to 'prison'.

You grab you're duffle bag and stood up. Planning to reach the fountain for more clear full vision. When your near enough. You took out a bar of chocolate and unwrap the plastic, throwing it on the ground before delightedly taking a bite.

Yum…

You love chocolate. You never have enough of those and will never grew tired of the taste till you grew older.

While chewing the chocolate sweetness, you extend your hand out to feel the droplets of the sprinkle water from the Water Fountain. The water is cool. Which is kind of strange since the weather is humid today but oh well. You shrug it off and continue to devour your chocolate while still letting your hand relax against the sprinkle of water. It's a kind of habit you did every day since it always puts you in a relax-mode.

After a few more seconds, you saw a shadow luring over your reflection from the water and quickly turn around, and there _she_ is! The **girl** whom you fear and frighten the most since she's the one who_ ruin _your whole life. You slowly back away until your lower back hits the wall of the fountain and look at her with fear in your eyes… That girl is so **tall**!

She glares hatefully at you before eyeing your now almost half eaten chocolate and glares harder at you even more…

In a quick motion, she instantly snatch your half eaten chocolate bar away and throw it at the fountain, where it slowly drowns until it reaches the dirtiest part of the ground where people used to throw plastic chips, cans, plastics cup, spoon, plate and many more where you can look anymore. You gasp without a sound and turn around to watch it slowly descending till it hits the lower ground. You quickly turn around only to find your duffle bag already being stolen by the _homeless wild kids_ that were **more **than **11**!

This time you grew very scared and were planning to save your duffle bag and run away for your life when the tall girl grabs you and turn you around so your back was now facing them…

You struggle as tears already began forming in your eyes and you let your ears hear the tormenting sounds of the **wild** kids attacking your duffel bag, stealing every item you have work so hard and save for the past days just to be stolen again by those monsters!

You cried soundlessly and continue to struggle as you heard them making a noise of argument about declaring that it's theirs like 'That's mine!' 'Give that to me!' 'No its mine!' 'Back off!' 'Get off me!'

You collected all your strength to push the girl back with your back but only ended up by her pulling your hair painfully that makes you cry out before forcefully pushing your head through the water, suffocating you.

From underwater, you can see your half eaten chocolate still laying strong deep down there with the rest of the piled dirt. You could almost smell the dirt of the garbages they threw here and could made out that all the dirt of the trash from deep below were already gathering in a form of organization. The girl pulls your head where you're finally out of the underwater and gasp wildly for some air. The girl only gave you three seconds before pushing your head back forcefully into the underwater. After 5 seconds she pulls your hair harder again where you desperately gasp for air, lungs already burning and screaming for oxygen to be inhale, only to be three seconds before pushing your head back in.

She continue to do this in a process where you struggle very hard to be release and soon to be passing out when you felt your name being called be someone's one who sounds very familiar…

"~~~~~?"

The girl pulls your hair up in a very painful grip that makes you scream soundlessly with tears continuingly pouring down your eyes, like a heavy rain that never knows when to stop.

You felt yourself gently shaken.

The girl pushes your head in with a much powerful force that makes the water splash all over her and you but she ignores it and continues to suffocate you. That girl is trying to **kill **you!

You struggle violently from under her grip in desperate attempt to get out free since you're running out of air and soon to be passing out or _dying_ when you felt yourself being shaken again with a little more pressure…

That girl really wanted you _killed _and is not going to let you go until you turn _limp, _that's why she was shaking you to check if you are still alive. You begin to fight back weakly causes you're beginning to lose all your strength and turn limp when you felt yourself being shaken again.

"~~~~~~!"

You woke up to find yourself lying in your bed in your room and saw Ven leaning on you looking worried with his hands on each of your shoulder.

Was he.. Was he the one who's been shaking you the whole time?

Ven signs in relief before sitting straight and looking at you worriedly. "You had me worried back there… I thought you were never gonna wake up" he laughs weakly at the end.

_Ven… I'm scared…_

Ven looks at you in concern and frowns, "I came here to check on you, to see if maybe you want something or need help. So I brought you some milk, just in case you're thirsty..."

You quickly look at the glass of milk that was place on top of the small round table.

_Milk!_

You really miss drinking milk. Since milk is your favorite from the beginning since your child birth. Ven looks at the milk before looking at you in amuse

"You must have love drinking milk do you?"

You nod. Ven then reaches over to grab the glass of milk from the table before handling it to you as you sat up.

_Thank you…_

You smile at him in thanks as you grab and begin to drink the glass of milk. He watches you gulp the white liquid thirstily until you were done. You gave him the empty glass of no milk and smile at him in thanks. He laughs and reaches over to wipe down some of the milk that still remains around your lips before grabbing the empty glass of finished milk and stated in amused

"Wow… You really must be thirsty" he chuckles before setting the empty glass of invisible milk back on top of the round table before smiling down at you.

You blush and chuckle soundlessly as you nod.

Ven chuckles and leans over to ruffle your hair like a puppy before standing up, stretching as he yawns. He looks back at you while still letting out a long yawn before smiling down at you.

"Well, guess it's time for me to sleep… You too since we had a big day coming tomorrow." He stated, stretching again with his back on you.

_Wait! You're already leaving…? _You thought sadly.

He looks over at his shoulder and smiles down at you "Goodnight ~~~~~!"

Just as he was moving to leave, you quickly sat up and reach out your hand to usher for him to wait.

"_Ven! Please don't leave me here all alone!'' _you called out but no voice came out. You look at him in panic as he walks to leave.

'_Please… I, I'm scared…' _you thought sadly, looking down. You don't want to have another dream of that _**girl **_and the **wild** homeless kids who would always attack your duffle bag. Tears slowly began to form in your eyes when you saw Ven stop.

You saw him standing there, with his back turn on you, seeming to be in deep in thought. Till he slowly turns at you and looks at you with sad concern eyes… almost like, he can _hear_ you calling him.

"Do you want me to stay…?"

You look up at him in surprise. It's like you can feel him _sensing _your fear… like he knows how you feel. You look down in shame and sadly nod.

Ven walk up to you and sit down on your bed, smiling as he places his hand on your shoulder, "You know, it's okay… If you were having a nightmare, I won't hesitate to go sleep with you… Just let me know so I'll be there, _ready _to **chase **those nightmare away!"

You smile up at him and chuckle soundlessly before nodding. Ven lie down while pulling you with him.

He reach down his hand to grab the blanket before wrapping the both of you to stay warm and turns to his side so he was now facing you. He smiles and pats your shoulder in reassuringly

"There… Feeling all better?"

You smile and nod up at him. Ven smiles, "Good… Now let's go to sleep so that tomorrow we'll be refresh for another long adventure…"

You nod smiling, slowly closing your eyes as you hear Ven lets out another yawn

"Goodnight…"

You nodded sleepily in response.

You felt Ven slinging his arm on your side and snuggle close to you.

"Oh… And ~~~~~?"

You tiredly open your eyes to hear what's his gonna say to you.

"Remember that last time I told you about how I always use to chase the meteor shower away whenever I see one…?" he ask with a slight sleepiness to his tone.

You nod and smile sleepily.

He sleepily smile back

"Well… you were the first person I ever told about 'me chasing the meteor shower'…" he pokes you with his finger before continuing

"Because I always use to hide this as a _secret_ so everyone I know won't think that I'm crazy…" he said in a tired sleepy voice as his face was nuzzle in your shoulder

"But I'm not afraid to tell you… Cause I know that you're a true _trusted_ friend who never laughs at anybody's secret…" he stated sleepily.

After confessing, he was instantly asleep. You smile, happy that the three of your friends fully trusted and confessed to you their long kept secret. It makes you feel so special and unique…

Feeling already safe and secure, you turn to your side and nuzzle next to Ven who is already on a sleeping state. You close your eyes and drift to sleep.

And guess what? You didn't dream of that _nightmare _anymore… Instead, you were in a peaceful sleeping state with no dreams or nightmares encounter. Only a comforting darkness that puts your mind in a full rest…


	4. Chapter 4

"~~~~~."

…..

"~~~~…"

…..

"~~~~, wake up…"

You groggily open your eyes to see Aqua leaning down looking at you. She smiles when she sees you awake, "Good morning ~~~~. Sorry to awake you. Master Eraqus has requested me to wake you up… saying that he needs to talk with you."

You slowly sat up and rub your sleepy eyes.

Aqua took out a plate of breakfast from the round table and places it beside you. "Here, I've brought you some breakfast… Hope you like it."

You look down at it funny.

It is a funny looking breakfast that has food face. It was styled by a round-shaped waffle that was covered by two scooped vanilla ice-cream to make a display of eyes, with an added M&M's being placed on each of the top to make it look like an eye ball. A whipping cream that was being used to create a wide spreading smile that almost reaches up until the tip of the eyes. Chocolate covered cherry dip was placed as a nose.

Aqua giggles, "Ven made those…something about sharing his 'skills'. I know having an ice cream as breakfast is a rare thing but Ven **insist** I share with you _one_ of his breakfast" she stated, shaking her head.

You smile. You don't mind. You'd also love to eat ice cream as breakfast. It's something you would always do if you had your own home in the past instead of searching for shelter every night.

"If you don't like it, then I can replace it with another _real_ breakfast if you want" she offered.

You quickly shake your head no, willing to try out one of Ven's creation. Aqua looks unsure of this, "Are you…sure?" You smile up at her reassuringly before grabbing a spoon and fork to show her that you don't mind.

Aqua nodded before standing up and said "Alright, I'll come back later when you're done. Your water and milk are already set on the table once you're thirsty so you don't need to go to the kitchen to get one."

You nodded at her in thanks.

Aqua smiles and then left.

You look down and _release_ your secret **drool **after hiding it from Aqua before diving in your sweet breakfast.

Mmmm… _Yummy_!

You eat happily. Enjoying every bit of sweets you're devouring and wishing that this sweet moment will never end… sadly, it cannot.

_***After 20 minutes…***_

Aqua came back to see you smiling at her in a sweet smile and notice you're already _empty_ plate and glass of milk, while the water is half finish.

She chuckles in amuse, "Wow… You must have really love eating _sweets_" she stated in amuse.

You blush. Is that wrong…?

She quick up the empty plate and glasses before turning to you, "Come on, I think master Eraqus is waiting to see you."

Hmm… You wonder why…

You nod and follow her out to the door.

"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"

After letting Aqua led you to the bathroom to let you 'relief' yourself (_Deleted scene_), she leads you down till the Dining room to find Eraqus there sitting in front of the dining table eating his breakfast.

"Master, here she is." she stated, leading you to him by your shoulder.

Eraqus looks up and saw you. He nods "Ah, thank you Aqua…" he smiles up at you and greet, "Good morning ~~~~~. Have a nice sleep?"

You nod, smiling.

Aqua left to went to the kitchen door with the empty plate and glasses in her hands.

Eraqus smiles and looks relief "Good! I'm glad…" He stood up with his already empty plate and glass before looking down at you "I hope you don't mind if I could talk with you for a moment…"

You shook your head, you don't mind…

Eraqus smiles, "Okay, just wait here. I'll be right back. I'll just bring these in the kitchen (he gestures to his empty plate and glass) to get it wash."

You nod, watching him leave.

You were left all alone in the large dining room and had no idea what to do as you stood there awkwardly. You sign… It was still pretty awkward to feel at 'home' yet since this is just your 'second' stay. You looked around the room and suddenly felt out of place.

The large dining room looks very luxurious that has a combination of red, blue, silver, white, and gold of furniture display and set. A huge crystal chandelier was hanged up at the blue ceiling that has designing textures and patterns and was set at the center of the large white glossy lacquer dining table, along with classical white upholstered chairs that were set on each side of the table. A large red carpet that has a well interior design was place beneath the beautiful antique gold custom design polished floor underneath the dining table. The white walls had a design of a gold ecclesiastical fabric, with a set of red bombe chests on each side of the wall that has some lamp and books place on top of each.

How much are all of these?

"Good morning ~~~~!"

You jump when you suddenly heard a voice calling you and turn to see Ven grinning down at you. You smile in a flush and greeted him in a nod. Ven chuckles at you, "So how was the breakfast? Do you like it?" he asks hopefully. You grin and nod.

_Of course! That was the __**best**__ breakfast ever! _You thought.

Ven looks please then smiles, giving you a thumb up, "Great! I'm glad you do. From now on, I'll be the **one** to be making you breakfast _every day! _So what about it? "

You grin and nod. Of course! The breakfast he made you earlier tasted _great_.

Ven grins back, "On the checklist! So would you still like the same menu for tomorrow or different menu…?"

You think about it. Hmm, you wonder what's on the different menu…

As if reading your mind, he answers, "Well, on the different menu… there will be more _added_ sweets and _chocolates,_" your mouth suddenly turns **watery** "with some sprinkle toppings to add more _sugary _flavor together with the _ice cream_" you swear you could almost feel yourself **drooling** (sweet is your weakness) as he continues "which consist of different flavors such as _chocolate,_ _vanilla,_" saliva almost slipping out from your mouth as he said each by counting his fingers "cookies 'n' cream, mocha, chocolate chips… uh _caramel_," he continued explaining as you picture every detail he said on your head "with some _skittles _that I would place on every top of the flavors, and then ~" he continued ramble on when Eraqus came out of the kitchen and smiles down at you, completely oblivious that Ven is talking to you and says,

"Let's go to my Study room, I have a few words to discuss with you before you'd go to Far Far Away Land… Follow me."

Ven stops rambling when he heard Master Eraqus mention Far Far Away Land and looks up, "Wait, you mean we're leaving **now**?"

Eraqus turns to him and said "No, not now but _later_, after I've discuss a few issues with ~~~~ something involving about our 'surroundings' and 'concerns'."

Ven looks at him and nods in understanding before looking down at you and smiles, "Remember and take note, 'A _sugary_ breakfast brings out the **full energy **in you for _full alert_!' to start off with a 'sweet' morning…" he quotes.

You take note of that and smile at him nodding, before following Eraqus to his Study room.

* * *

><p><em>Study Room <em>_*****_

When you both entered Eraques' Study room, you noticed that every bookshelves have a thick books that were pile all next together from top to bottom. Some books look too old like it had been stuck there for ages. You tilt your head, who reads books anyway? Books are boring… you thought. (Though you haven't tried reading one yet) This Study room also looks like an Office room since there's also an office table that has drawers. Few books with a lampshade were place on top of the table. And across that office table sits an office chair.

You were now sitting in a comfortable blue tub chair that was next to the office table with Eraqus sitting across to you, also in a tub chair. You look at him expectedly and wonder what he wants to talk with you about.

"~~~~~, yesterday Aqua and I discussed about the matters on how to take care of you since yesterday you came here without any clothes, garments, shoes, or any things for you to wear…" You nodded in understanding.

"She said she didn't have any clothes left in her to fit about your size and were worried to leave you alone empty-handed… So we discussed about planning on buying you your very own _new_ clothes and some necessary things for you to use, so that you wouldn't have to wear the same clothe all day." You nodded again in understanding.

"Yesterday we decided that _today_ will be the best day to start beginning renewing things for you and you're settling, so that for the next remaining days you won't have a hard time dealing with what you need. Just like they said 'The earlier, the better', best way to start with the requirements before resting…" he stated.

You nodded.

"With your help, we need you to tag along so that we can figure out what are your sizes, likings, interests, favorites, anything that we can learn from out of you so that we'll know what you'll need for the future basis."

You smile and nod.

"So I hope you are ready. Terra, Aqua and Ven will be guiding and taking care of you on the town called Far Far Away, also known as a Kingdom town. Once you get there, you'll see most of the houses were made of castles and fortresses, where kings and queens, princes and princesses lives and resides… There are also ordinary people living there, living in a normal houses, were most you can see in your surroundings."

You listen attentively…

"I want you to stay close to the three… That Kingdom town your about to be going is a huge town and an easy place to get _lost_" he warns as you nod "And being lost means being _out of sight_, and being out of sight means being in _**danger**_." he emphasis 'danger' in a warningly tone.

You gulp and nod, to show him you understood.

"The reason why I've chose that town was because that town has the most number of best stores which I've thought could help you to be able to get all the basic things that you need..." You nodded.

"And when you get there, do **not** get too far away from one of the three so that they won't lose sight of you. And for the sake of your safety, _hold_ one of their hands so that their hands will guide you all the way through the destination your all about to be going, okay?''

You nodded in understanding, thinking that he is already done explaining all the things he needed to say to you.

"Good. Oh, and one more thing…" he looks hesitate. You look at him up in wonder.

He frowns "~~~~, if… one of the town people asks to know your name, would you like them to know your ~~~~?"

You frown. You were used to your name that your parents gave you… You're not sure if you wanted to change it.

"I can give you your _new_ name if you want…" he suggests.

You look up at him in surprise. R-Really…?

"Do you want to _change_ your name instead of having the one your _parents_ gave you…?"

You look down in thought. Hmm…Should you _change _your name instead of the ones where your parents 'who _**abandoned **_you' _gave_?

You look up at him with determination. _Yes_… you thought. If your name is change, then so had your life _has _change…

Eraqus nods "Okay, let's see…" he places his hand on his chin in thought with his other arm cross to his side. "How about…** ~!~!~!**?" he ask/suggest.

You gave him a funny look. **~!~!~!**...? That name sounds just too weird for you. "No? Then how about… "**.!.**?"

_**.!.**__?_ That's too short. "Yeah I know… too short. Hmm…"

You waited for him to think of a new name for you. "**!~!**?" no. "Not too good enough? Fine then, how about, **!%^#***?" you shook your head no, giving him your disapproving look.

"^o^?" shooks head.

"(o)(O)?" shooks head again.

"Don't like? How 'bout (**~_o)**?" no, to ugly, "(*u*)?" too girly…, "O_o?" too boyish…

"O()O?" nope… "**T_T**?" that's a funny name, so no. "===?" you froze a bit.

'===_' _you thought. -…

Hmm… Not bad, not bad at all. You look up at him and smile, nodding in approval. He grins and nod "So it's ==== then."

The both of you grin at each other. "I approve of the name… - did suit you well."

Eraqus then stood up, "Guess it's time to tell the guys about the new _change._" You smile and nodded in agree as you stood up.

* * *

><p>"===."<p>

"===?"

"===…."

Eraqus nods at the three "That's right. We've decided that from now on, her name will be ===, right ~~~ **I** _**mean**_ ===?" Eraqus ask, smiling down at you. You nod, grinning at him.

Terra, Aqua and Ven laugh.

The five of you were now outside the castle, getting ready to shift to another world.

"But to tell you the truth, I'm kinda use of calling === ~~~~~… you know?" grins Ven. Aqua agrees, "Yeah… and, it's kind of confusing. It's like having already _two_ names" she state out. Terra nods agreeing.

"Well, just keep in mind that -'s name already is ===' said master Eraqus. "Wait, you mean 's name is already -." correct Terra.

Eraqus looks a bit uneasy before he nods, "Yes…that."

"Okay, we got it! I think I've somehow already got it memorized, so I guess the sooner I'll be able to get use to ~~~~~'s new name" said Ven smiling. Everyone look at him, he looks back and ask innocently "What?"

Eraqus stood from across you all and remind "Now remember, before you guys go, I want each of you guys to be reminded that the town your about to be going is a _big_ town. A place where one of you must keep a watchful eye for - since that town might even still consist of _villains_ that may be lingering somewhere throughout the areas" he warned. His three pupils nod.

"And beware. Some villains might even try to _befriend _and pursue you into something you aren't intentionally being aware of… So while === is with you, avoid making contact with the enemy at all cost just to ensure her safety. Keep her at safe distance between strangers whom weren't such in good morals to prevent any unnecessarily scene."

"Got it." nods Aqua.

"So we shop till we drop huh?" state Ven in amuse. Terra nods "Obviously… That's why we got enough money in our hands."

Ven looks down at his hands (empty).

"So after shopping, what's next are we suppose to do?" ask Aqua. Master Eraqus turns to her, "Try to find a place to stay for the mean time. You guys need to acquire some rest before returning… And try to _hang_ out a bit around the town for a while. You guys deserve a long break after every mission." Eraqus smiles.

Both Terra and Aqua look at each other in surprise.

Ven grins "Cool! Then we can go check out the **entire** town together just like a _vacation_!" he stated excitedly. Terra and Aqua looks at him in amuse.

"So when are we coming back?" ask Terra, turning to look at Master Eraqus.

"Until the very next day… The land of Far Far Away is one of the towns where you don't wanna miss. Trust me, I've been there. I've even met a few of one of the Kingdoms' princesses. Their kind enough to offer me their palace as a shelter during vacation." he smiles at the end.

The four of you look at him in awe and surprise. "You've met one of the princesses who'd **let** you in?" ask Ven in surprise.

Master Eraqus smiles and nods, "Yes… That's why I'd advise you guys to do the same thing. Meet up a princess who would be nice enough to let you stay in as the guest of the house."

"Are all the princesses nice?" ask Terra. Master Eraqus shrugs, "Well, for what I've seen… only a **few** of them were. So best of luck to find the _right_ one" he tease.

Terra, Aqua and Ven sweatdrop.

Eraqus extends his arm and create a portal to his side, "Here you'll get through the land of **Far Far Away**. Once you all get there, try to find a _traveler guide_ to lead you guys to the shopping district for a quick rush of time."

Ven kneels down and carries you in his arms.

"So how are we suppose to get back?" called Aqua as the four of you were now about to enter the portal.

"I'll be there to get you guys. Now go. - needs some new clothes" he called as he watch you all moving to the portal.

Before Terra was about to get in, he gave his master a farewell nod before entering inside the portal. Aqua nods at her master and bid him farewell before doing the same thing.

The last ones were you and Ven, who stops in front of his master and grins "See ya!" Eraqus smiles at the both of you and nod goodbye. When Ven turns and was about to get inside the portal with you, Eraqus called "Oh! And Ven…"

Ven turns around with you in his arms, "Take care of ===…" he request. Ven smiles and nod at him before turning the both of you around and finally heading inside the portal.

Eraqus watches the two of you disappear inside before sighing.

* * *

><p>"Ugh…." groans Ven.<p>

He found himself lying on the ground. He saw trees… There are trees everywhere. He raises his brow in confusion. He slowly sat up and realizes that he is in the **woods**. When he looks down, he saw you slowly sitting up, rubbing your forehead to sooth the dizziness away.

He quickly leans down and touches your shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asks, concern.

You release your hand from your forehead and slowly nod up at him. He looks around again, wondering why you guys are in the woods until he suddenly realize something's missing…

"Terra…? Aqua…?"

You look around and found yourself in the forest with Ven. No sign of Terra and Aqua…

He looks around in confusion as he slowly stood up. "Where's Terra and Aqua?" he asks in confuse. You slowly stood up and looks confuse as well, even wondering why Terra and Aqua aren't with you two…

Ven kneels down and takes you to his arms before looking around in disbelief. "Why are we in the _woods_…?"

You shrug at him. Ven turns around, trying to make some sense on why the only of you two are here without the two of his best friends.

"Terra?" he called into the woods. No answer…

"Aqua?" he called again but gain no response.

He tilted his head in confusion then he looks at you and asks "Where are they…?" You shrug again, just as clueless as he is and had no idea what's going on.

He began to walk with you in his arms as he looks around searching for any signs of his two missing friends. "This is _weird_… I thought we were supposed to be in the land of Far Far Away already with Terra and Aqua" he said as he walks straight into the pathway of the woods

"And not ended up here instead in the middle of the woods…"

You nod in agree, watching as he continues leading the both of you straight ahead, following the trail in hopes of leading the right way where his friends are.

For after what seems like an endless miles of walking and following the road of trail, the two of you saw a beautiful pond on the other side of the woods which caught the both of your attention. It's a beautiful large pond filled with wildlife that connects with Pine Mountain.

You and Ven stare at it in awe as the two of you got more close to view the pond more clearly.

"Where exactly are we…?" he asks as he views around the area along with you.

When Ven moves closer to the pond, he immediately pauses and stare wide-eyed at the **huge **_creature _that's leaning its head down to reach the water and took a sip. When you turn your head to the side, you also froze and stared wide-eyed at that _large_ 'thing' that doesn't seem to be noticing the two of you as it still keeps drinking the water pond.

_It's a gigantic red __**dragon**__!_

Ven felt you shivering in fear against his arms and slowly began to pat you for comfort "_Shh….It's okay, she still doesn't see us…_'' he whispers to you in reassurance as he still stare wide-eyed at the thirsty dragon.

It's not **working**. You can't help but still shiver in fear as the two of you still stood there frozen with fear and shock. Like the two of you suddenly turned _paralyze_.

"_We better not make too much __**noise**__ so it won't notice us…"_he stated quietly, slowly beginning to back up as the two of you still stared at the red dragon wide eyed. Ven took one silent step back before using his other feet cautiously to avoid making noise. Good… the dragon is still busy drinking the water like she hasn't drank for the past few years.

Ven continues to slowly and cautiously backing up as he watches the dragon in full alert, just in case it decided to snap her head at the both of your way.

He repeatedly did the same process in a careful manner until the both of you are out of sight. When the two of you are almost out of sight, his left feet suddenly (accidentally) step on a very dry dead leaf which causes a rustling noise and crunching. The dragon turns its head at the both of your direction and the both of you instantly _froze_ with a horrified expression.

"_**Run**_…" Ven whispers harshly before quickly turning around then **run.**

You clutch against Ven tightly as he runs in an accelerating speed that makes the whole vision around you blur. You shut your eyes tightly, in fear for seeing if the red dragon is flying and chasing the two of you, while hearing Ven's running footsteps pounding against the ground. You could also feel and hear your increasing heart rate bumping and beating against your chest.

It's a good thing Ven is a fast runner, or else both of you would be turned into an ashes in just a seconds ago. You give a sneak peek behind Ven's shoulder and felt rush of relief sign from you. There's no sign of the dragon following, though Ven keeps running just to make sure to keep you out of danger.

After a few runs just to keep out of sight and reach of the dragon, Ven places you down the ground before resting his arms on his knees to catch a breath. You look up and saw him inhaling and exhaling, trying to gain back his normal breath as sweat slowly begins to form and drip out on his forehead.

You look at him in concern, wondering if his going to be okay when he looks down at you and smiles. "_Whew_… That was _**close. **_It's a good thing that dragon doesn't chase us here all the way" he stated in relief.

_Meanwhile…._

Back at the pond, the female red dragon only gave a weird stare, wondering why those two suddenly ran out when she turns to look at them, before resuming back into drinking the fresh cool water to quench her thirst.

"~"~"~"~"~"~"~

This time you're on your feet, holding hands with Ven so that you won't get away from him or lose out of sight as you walk with him into a forest that consist of swamp.

The two of you are walking into a boardwalk where below on each side of the railings has a lake filled with mud and trees. The both of you had no idea where you two are about to be going as long as it's a safe distance away from the dragon. Better safe than sorry, right?

Ven looks down at you, "You know,"

You look up at him in wonder "I think we're _lost_…"

You frown and nod in agreeing. So far, the two of you haven't made any contact with Terra or Aqua. It's possible that they were already far away since from the current place you both started. You and Ven are already clueless to what destination you both are currently in and needless to say, you two were already _**lost**_.

You two still continue to find a way to meet the others and continued to walk. As you two were surrounded by areas that were full of mud, from the distant, the two of you could make out a house that has a tree trunk that was attach on top of it.

"Look, there's a house! Maybe we could ask for help" suggested Ven, grinning down at you. You smile and nod up at him in agree.

The two of you walk straight to the house that is surrounded by full of swamp. As you two get closer, you notice that there is an outdoor toilet up on the left side of the house. The swamp contains small and big ponds of muddy water and also had geysers that squirt out mud.

"Is this a Swamp house?" ask Ven as he studies the place with you. Yeah, it seems like it…

There is a 'sign' near at the owner's house with a drawing of green creatures. One male, one female, and triplets babies just like the version of them. Perhaps it's their kids?

Ven narrows his eyes at the sign and reads "Beware ogre and ogress…"

You look up at him and he looks down at you, "The owners of this house aren't like one of us…" he stated at you, pointing at the green creatures that's been drawn in a sign. You look up at him in surprise.

"It appears that the ogres in this house didn't like welcoming any visitors" he gesture to another sign that says 'Keep Out' on the other side. Ven signs, "I guess we can't get any help from here after all…" he stated sadly.

"Oh! Looks like we have **some** visitors!" called a cheerfully male voice, which surprises the two of you.

The both of you turn around to see a grinning donkey looking at you two happily. The donkey excitedly jogs all the way to the two of you and still kept the grin. "If your here to see _Shrek_, he is just inside the house!" he looks at you and grins, chuckling "And you brought your _sister _along! I'm sure Shrek will appreciate it bringing home a friend for his kids to play with…" he states happily.

You and Ven look at him in surprise

"You can…talk?"

The donkey looks insulted then glares "No…_Of course_ I can talk! Ever heard of a talkin' donkey before? Well, that's me. The one and only!" he said proudly grinning.

Ven tilted his head down at him as you look at him in amuse.

"You guys wait here, I'm just gonna inform Shrek and Fiona that we have _visitors_!" And before Ven could try to stop him, the donkey already runs to the door and called "Oh Shreeek….! Fiona! We have _**visitors**_!"

Uh oh

"**Who** is it?" called a male voice from inside.

The donkey turns and studies the two of you for a moment before responding "One guy with his sister!"

"**Who** are _they_?" called the piss male voice inside.

"They're our _visitors_!"

"No Donkey! What I _mean _is, '_who'_ are _**they**_?" the male voice explains in frustrate.

"_Our_ visitors!" replies the donkey.

"_**Who **_are _our _'visitors?" ask the male, sounding pissed.

"One guy _with_ his sister!" replies the donkey, sounding very pissed of having to repeat the same answer.

"_Whose_ the _one _guy with his sister?" ask the very piss male voice.

"_Our_ **visitors**!" repeats the very frustrate donkey.

You and Ven listen to them argue with a sweat drop.

"Ugh! _Do_ I even _know_ them?" ask the male voice in frustrates.

"Er…" states Ven uneasy.

"_Of course _you do! What _kind_ of visitors who would come to visit without _knowing_ them first?" stated Donkey in disbelief.

"Uh… We're not ~" Ven was interrupted by the angry male voice

"Look Donkey! I don't accept any _unknown_ visitors that I _haven't _even _met_ from the first place!" called the angry voice.

"Shrek! Don't be _rude_! We already have _visitors_. Why don't you go meet them?" said a female voice from inside. "But I don't even _**know**_ them Fiona! I haven't even met them!" the male stated. "Then go _meet_ them. They probably came all the way here just to see you" she stated.

You and Ven look slightly uncomfortable about this.

"Yeah,** c**ome out here Shrek! We don't want the visitors to be kept waiting do we?" said the donkey. "Yeah Shrek, why don't you go and greet them?" suggest that female voice, must be his wife.

"Actually, we're only here to ~" Ven was cut off again by the pissed male voice.

"Argh! Okay **fine**! (His voice getting closer) Only because we have _visitors_" he mocks the word 'visitors'.

The door of the house suddenly slams open to reveal a very piss off looking green monster. Who looks tall and big enough with a threatening look that slightly terrifies you. You quickly hid behind Ven who stood firmly to his ground.

Donkey saw it and frowns "Aw just look what you did! You just scared away your triplets' playmate!" he argued. Shrek, the green ogre, raise his brow in confusion and turns to look at you two with a "Huh?"

Ven chuckles awkwardly before rubbing his neck "Uh… We're just here to um… ask where we are?" he explains unsurely as Shrek and Donkey gave a surprising look.

Before any of them can reply, a female ogress who's wearing a white dress came out of the door and greeted you two with a smile "Oh, visitors!_ Please, _come in!" She pulls you two inside the house and both of you come across a main room, that both have a kitchen and a dining room. There's also a bed there, where you can see Ogre Triplets wrestling altogether playfully.

"Please have a _seat_" said the female ogress as she pushes you both to sit on the chair and said "I'll go grab some drinks" then rushes to the kitchen to grab some drinks.

"Er…thanks?" said Ven unsurely as he looks and studies the interior of the house, while you in the other hand, watches the cute triplets playing altogether in amuse.

Shrek and Donkey entered in. "So _visitors_, what brings you in?'' ask Donkey excitedly. "O-Oh uh, we just came here to ask for help…" replies Ven.

"What kind of help?" ask Shrek, crossing his arms as he studies the two of you.

Ven looks slightly uncomfortable, "Uh… we're _kinda _lost… so we think asking for help _helps_ ehehe" he chuckles awkwardly again.

"Come again?" said Shrek, looking half surprise. Donkey looks fully surprise and gasps "You mean you guys got _lost_ and needed our _help_?_** Sure**_ thing! Why not? Shrek and I are _always_ ready for anything!" Shrek snaps his head at him in disbelief. "Just tell us where you guys live so that we two can send you back home in no time!" he stated confidently.

"Donkey…" complain Shrek, not in the mood for this.

"Actually, we were supposed to go to Far Far Away land to help my _sister_ go buy some new clothes…" Ven stated.

Shrek and Donkey looks surprise with wide open eyes.

"Wait a minute. Did you just mention the land of _Far Far Away_?" ask Fiona in surprise as she appears back with teacups in her hands. Ven nods as he thank her and accepts the teacups and gave one to you.

"Did someone just **mention** the land of Far Far Away?" ask a voice coming from the door that was suddenly open.

All of you turn your heads to see a wolf wearing a pink dress as he looks at you all expectedly. Donkey grins and nods "That's right! You heard it _right_! We're _all_ going to go to **Far Far Away land**!" Shrek turns to glare at him and scold "Donkey!"

Then three pigs came rushing in and jumps around excitedly "Oh I cannot wait!", "Me two!", "Me three!" squeal each one after another. Shrek looks at them in surprise "What the~"

Then a wooden puppet suddenly appears from a bedroom door and called "Did I just heard that we're about to be going to the land of Far Far Away?''

Shrek looks at him in surprise then narrows his eyes asking "Pinocchio, what are you _**doing **_inside of our bedroom?" Pinocchio looks at him in surprise and then shook his head, stuttering "N-Nothing!" then his wooden nose began to grow in inches. Shrek glares and states "Ah ha! I _knew _you've done something!" Pinocchio shakes his head again and said "I do not!" which only causes his nose to grow another inches taller.

You and Ven chuckles in amuse.

A gingerbread man hops at the top of Donkey's head and called "We're finally going to visit the Far Far Away land!" Donkey grins and chuckle "Oh yes we will Gingy! And we have our new _visitors_ to come and tag along us! Ain't that right uh… what are you guys name?" he looks at the two of you, wondering what both of your names are.

"Ven. And her names ==='' Ven introduces himself and you to him.

Donkey smiles and nod "Alright Ven and ===. You've got our service! We'll be happily to serve the two of you into journeying up to the land of Far Far Away, where all of the entire Kingdom ahead have awaited upon of our arrival."

"Ya! We'll be totally happy to serve them ya?" "Ya!", "Ya" said each of the pig at one of the time.

Ven grins "Oh thanks!"

"No problemo…" a smooth talking Spanish accent cat who wears a cavalier's hat, a belt with a sword, a small black cape, and small Corinthian boots, suddenly hops and lays in a curled position on your lap "For I, the one and only, could make your travellings go safe all the way…without fear, without mistrust and without misjudge."

"And I could also visit my mother!" stated Fiona excitedly. Shrek turns to her in surprise and disbelief "But Fiona, how about the kids? Who would go take care of them?" he asks in a worry. Fiona turns to him and smile "We could also bring Farkle, Fergus and Felicia with us. Plus, it's been awhile since I've seen my mother… Please Shrek, let us all go visit for once in a while."

Shrek signs and gives in "Fine…"

With this, everybody cheer joyfully except for the amuse Fiona, a grinning you, a chuckling Ven and a wincing Shrek. "See? I **knew** Shrek has a kind hearted soul after all! Sometimes it would get so hard to dig out his true motives when the outside is just too solid to dig in!" stated Donkey happily

"Shut up!" scolds Shrek.

Everybody laughs. The triplets were now crawling over the floor and climb up to Ven who smiles and carries one of them up to his arms. The other two climb up to you and plays with you and the purring cat.

Suddenly, the door to the main room opens "Ven! ===!"

You and Ven look at the door in surprise to see Aqua looking relief and surprise to see the two of you here.

"Aqua!" Ven called in surprise.

Aqua looks around then suddenly _**blush**_, "O-Oh… I uh.. didn't know someone else is here…" she stated in embarrass when she saw everyone is looking at her in surprise at her sudden appearance.

Dolphy grins "Uuuuu we have another _visitor_!"

The puss in boots suddenly stood up from your lap and quickly licks his palm to fix his hair "Oh! Uh la la.. My my _**senorita**__!_" he said in a sexy Spanish voice before jumping down and removing his cavalier hat then bows down in a gentlemen manner, "Allow _me_ to introduce myself…" he grabs her hand. "I, my dear…" he places a kiss on her hand before capping his cavalier back on his hat "is one of the _special _services that I'd be recommended to be your _guide_, for the long epic journey we will about to be facing together through the midst of danger…support… caring…_passion_…loving…(he kisses her hands again) and serving." Aqua smiles down at him "Are you a Zorro?"

Everybody laughs as puss blushes and bows at her "Unfortunately… A Zorro who'd love to be your partner in crime for all eternity, even through a risk of time..."

Donkey grins up at Aqua "So Aqua huh? Are you their friends?" he gestures to you and Ven. Aqua smiles and nod "Yes, I've been searching for them around the woods." Ven stood up, "Aqua, Is Terra with you?'' he asks worried. Aqua frowns and shook her head "No… I couldn't find him. When I came out through the portal, I found myself lying down on the woods with no signs of any of you."

Ven frowns and looks down "Oh…"

"Who's Terra?" ask Shrek. "He's our friend… The one who got also lost just as us when we were suppose to go to the Far Far Away land by the portal" answered Aqua. "Portal? Are you guys like from the other world that looks different from us?" ask Pinocchio in surprise. Aqua smiles and shook her head "No. We live in the same world…But only through different dimension" she explains. "So that means you guys can travel in space?" ask Gingy in awe. Aqua giggles "Yes, but not all the time…Only when we are out for missions."

Fiona smiles "So Aqua, would you like some cup of tea before we could help?" Aqua smiles at her in graceful before she nods "Yes please…" "Tell us more!" "Ya! Tell us more!" "Ya, tell us!" exclaim the pigs in excitedly. Aqua grins and nods "Sure… Well, the reason why we came here is…"

* * *

><p>So after Aqua and Ven explain and answer every question on why you guys were brought here in the first place and how you guys became lost, the guys already offered to help you three to journey into the land of Far Far Away Kingdom so that they could also visit most of their relatives and friends. Aqua and Ven also explained that you cannot talk and can only reply through yeses and no's to every question or statement that they would like to give to you. The two of them planned that during a journey to Far Far Away land that there would be hopes to search for the missing Terra in every corner to make it more a lot faster and easier.<p>

So now, all of you were outside waiting for the 'shifting' guide to come so all of you could ride to reach the distance of the Far Far Away land. Shrek and Fiona came out with the babies in arms and luggage as the three blind mice offered for them to guard their home.

"Here she comes now!" stated Donkey, grinning at everyone who are standing with him, all look ready and excited, except for Shrek since all he wanted to do is to stay peacefully at home with his family.

"Yay! We're going to Far Far Away Land!" "Ya!" "Ya!" stated the three pigs excitingly.

"I hope I do not fell…" said Puss in boots, doing a cross sign.

Gingerbread man tugs himself into the pocket of the wolf's pink dress and said "Keep me safe! If I _fall_, I'm gonna bring you down with me!" The wolf glares "Then I'm gonna _munch_ you up till your head reaches to centimeters!" The gingerbread man stares at him in horror and do a begging hands, "No! I changed my mind! If I fall, just _bite_ me instead!"

"I _ain't_ afraid of heights, ain't _afraid_ of heights, I aren't scared of heights!" Pinocchio keeps reassuring to himself as he closes his eyes, but when he opens them, he saw that his wooden nose is already long like the length of an umbrella.

Aqua looks at Ven who is now carrying you in his arms, "Do you think that we could be able to find Terra as we made our way to the land of Far Far Away?"

Ven frowns and shrugs, looking down "I don't know… I could only hope that the answer is _yes. _But, if not… then I don't know what to think anymore."

Aqua frowns and nods in understanding. She knew that he and Terra have a _strong_ brotherly bonding and how it would hurt for him to know if something bad might happen to him.

Up in air, you could make out a large flying creature with wings that is making its way through this way and let out a roaring sound. Your eyes widen when you see what it was…

It was the red _dragon_ before!

Even Ven looks up with surprise. What the…? Why is that dragon making its way here?

The dragon lands swiftly on the ground and gave Donkey an affectionate rub in the face while blinking tenderly. Donkey laughs "_Damn_ baby! You made a pretty good _**impression**_ on being a dragon's lair!" he commented.

You and Ven gave a shocking stare. What the…_heck_?

Donkey hops into her back and gives everyone a happy smile "Come on guys! Hop on aboard!"

_What?_

Riding on the _**dragon**_? Are you _serious_?

The three pigs, Pinocchio, Wolf with Gingy on his pocket, and Puss in boots all rush to the large red dragon and hop on its back. While you, Aqua and Ven could only stood in shock. _Really?_

Shrek looks up, feeling unsure about this and looks at Fiona, "Fiona are you sure this is _safe_ enough for our kids? I mean, what if they _fall_?" Fiona smiles at him reassuringly and said "Don't worry Shrek… We'll hold onto our kids tightly so they won't fall. And the dragon knows we have _kids_ that were going to be riding on its back. So it will fly steady. Let's go now."

Shrek chuckles sarcastically "Yeah… _Steady_ to the '_**far far' **_away land" he stated grudgingly before following his wife to the dragon.

Aqua, Ven and you manage to sit at the middle of the dragons back with you being sandwich between them. Ven in front of you with you holding his waist in both hands for secure while Aqua on your back, holding your waist to keep you steady.

Donkey is on the head of the dragon like he is in the lead while Fiona and Shrek are sitting right next behind him with one baby on Fiona's front while the other two on Shrek's front, holding them securely. Right after Shrek is followed by Puss in boots, Ven, you, Aqua, Wolf, Pinocchio, and the three pigs.

When the dragon slowly starts to ascend, you felt a little bit nervous. What if you fall? What if the dragon suddenly flies fast and all of you drop? But you felt Aqua's hands holding your waist in a secure grip which makes you feel a lot safer. You also felt Ven's hands starting to grab yours from the front and held it against it tightly to ensure you that he would let you fall.

You smile at that, feeling relief that you have two friends who's bound to protect you.

When the dragon is already in mid air, you knew you don't wanna look down or else you'll _regret_ it. But being the stubborn you are, you did, and suddenly _regret_ it. Everything from down below almost look like an ants. Yet, you somehow felt safely by the four guarding hands that are holding you protectively and firmly, so now you have less worry about thinking of falling over.

When the red dragon starts to glide forward in the air, your eyes widen at the sudden pressure. Wind started rushing its way towards you guys, passing through each one of you as you all sit and watch the scenery around your surroundings go.

"_YAHOOOOO_!" exclaim Donkey from the front. Everyone began to let out a joyous sound as they all enjoy watching the scenery of mountains, woods, forest, lakes, ponds, trees, etc. all pass by before another.

Even Aqua and Ven let out a thrilling shout as they laugh happily, enjoying the ride as well. You on the other hand, join them as well.

So there you all begin to start the journey to the land of Far Far Away…

_Meanwhile ago…._

Terra finds himself lying on the ground on his stomach. He slowly begins to sit up in a push up position before looking around curiously.

Where is he?

And where are Aqua, Ven and -?

He finds himself looking down at the sea of peninsula and wonders if Aqua, Ven and - are somewhere here too. He begins to search.

He continued walking while examining his surroundings where he notices that he is already in an island. And in the miles, he saw a residences and homes and thought that maybe the three are already there so he decided to check out. When he reaches there, he notices that he is already in a road where buildings and houses were already in every corner and from the distant he can see some palaces and castles…

Hmm… he thought.

Perhaps this is the Kingdom town where Master Eraqus was talking about.

He figures out that he is already in a town called the Far Far Away and begin to think if maybe he could find the three of his friends here…

So he started walking and searching.


	5. Chapter 5

'Where's _Terra?'_

It took a long journey for the all of you to make it to the land of Far Far Away Kingdom. But with the wings of the dragon, time travels faster like a speed of light. You watched as you all passed by several lakes, waterfalls, mountains, trees, hills, beach, forests, woods, the all kinds of landscapes from nature and also found some of a few living creatures such as animals and enchanted animals down below.

After a long fun ride, you all finally see an entrance sign that reads Far Far Away and knew that you all finally made into the town where you'll all suppose to be…

The red dragon slowly moves onto the ground so that to not make her passengers fall off during the landing. When the dragon lands safely to the ground, the fairytale creatures all cheered excitedly as they jump down and called "Yay! We made it!" "Ya! We made it!" "Ya! Made it!" squeals the three pigs, jumping up and down excitedly. "We're finally in the land of Far Far Away!" shouts Pinocchio in joy, spreading his wooden arms in the air happily. "And I cannot wait to see papa!" exclaim Gingy excitedly, popping out of the Wolf's pocket. Puss in Boots swings his sword around then wipes it clean with his cape "At least I manage to survive without breaking a piece."

"We're finally here…" stated Ven, looking at the streets ahead to see buildings and houses. Aqua turns to look at it then nods "Yeah… I guess this is the town for all the Kingdoms" she said. You watch the fairytale creatures continuing to jump around in joy as Shrek helps Fiona set her down the ground with one of the triplets in her arm.

"I wonder how Arthur is doing…" wondered Fiona. "Right, Artie! I haven't seen him for ages! I really wonder how his doin'…" stated Donkey in thought. "Oh he's _fine _if that's what you're wondering. And I bet he's also taking care of your mother so she's fine _too_… See? _Nothing_ to worry about, so let's go back home." he said, turning to climb back up on the dragon but Fiona stops him, "Oh Shrek. Stop being a _kill joy_ and let's just come over for a visit. Besides…I bet mother would be happy to see us. Right Donkey?"

Donkey grins then nods "Yeah Shrek! _Who_ wouldn't be happy to see you?"

Shrek signs grudgingly "Okay fine! But just _one_ night, then tomorrow we leave back to the swamps." Fiona grins and nods "Alright! We better hurry then to see how they're doing." Donkey frowns at Shrek "Aw…Come on Shrek! Why not make it 'least _2_ _days_? Just _1_ day wouldn't be enough to make up for the _whole_ months that we hadn't been here!" he wines. "Ya! We had not been here for months!" "Ya! We've been _prisoned_ surrounded by mud that we couldn't escape!" "Ya! We need clear surroundings!" "Ya!" "Ya!"

Shrek grits his teeth then curls his fist shakingly "Alright! _**Fine**_! Then do whatever you want! But I'm going _back_ to the swamp house first thing in the morning, alone or not." he stated angrily.

The fairytale creatures all cheered and jump happily as Fiona frowns at him, "Are you sure you don't want to spend for more days here?" Shrek shakes his head "No. I'm already use to staying in our home so no. But you can stay if you want." Fiona frowns at him then holds his hand "I'm only staying when you're staying Shrek… Plus, the kids also want to be with their dad" she smiles.

Donkey smiles then nod "Yeah. _Spend_ some days here with your family instead of _trapping_ yourself up in the swamp." Shrek glares at him at the word 'trapping'.

"So uh… thanks guys?" said Ven who was watching with you and Aqua in amuse.

Everybody turns and suddenly realizes that the three of you were there (e_xist_). "Thanks for the ride. We really appreciate it" said Aqua smiling. Ven nods, smiling too "Yeah. We uh…really had _fun_. Thanks for the ride!"

Aqua nods, smiling "Yeah, it's really nice to meet you all. So thanks and hope we might see each other again." Ven nods grinning, "Yeah, so see y'all!" he waves at them all as the fairy tale creatures wave goodbye to them back, calling "See ya Aqua Ven and -!" called Gingy, jumping on Wolf's shoulder as he waves. "Goodbye!" "Bye!" "Ya bye!" called the three pigs. "Good luck" said Wolf. "It's nice meeting you three too!" called Pinocchio, waving his hands at you three wildly. Shrek and Fiona smile waving goodbye to you three.

Donkey rushes to your sides and ask "Hey! Aren't you guys goin' to find yo' friend called uh…Terra? S'dat him?"

The three of you nod. "Yes, we think his somewhere out here…also wandering around tryin' to find us" stated Ven as Aqua nods. Donkey nods "Oh…I see." then an idea struck him. He looks up then grins, "Hey! Why not I tag along with you guys? I'd like to help!" he offered. Ven looks down at him then grins, nodding "Ok, sure! You can tag along with us, but uh… how about your friends?" he gestures to the rest. Shrek grins and called "Don't worry! He knows where to find us." (_Glad_ _that Donkey won't get to bother him anymore with his family since he always wanted to have a family moment_) Donkey nods with a grin "Yeah, I know where they live and know where to find them! And I might probably know where your friend is!"

This causes the three of you to look at him surprise, "Really? Then where?" ask Ven with hope in his voice. Donkey shrugs with a grin "I don't know. I thought you guys know." this cause Aqua to face palm and Ven to look down with his shoulder huff, you on the other hand, tilted your head. "But I could still help." reassures Donkey with a smile. Aqua nods and smiles down at him "Okay, you can come." Donkey grins "Alright! I could come!" he turns around in a circle in joy.

Aqua suddenly remembers what Master Eraqus said earlier:

"_Once you all get there, try to find a traveler guide to lead you guys to the shopping district for a quick rush of time."_

She quickly looks at Donkey and asks in hope "Uh…Donkey?" "Hmm?" "Do you know where the shopping district is…? Here in this town?"

Donkey grins and nods, "Yeah! I've been to this town every time and got most of the places memorized. I could be you guys' escort!" he states happily. Aqua smiles and nod, "Then could you show us where the shopping districts' at?" she asks. Donkey grins and nods "Sure, no problem! I'd be gladly to escort!" Aqua giggles "Thanks"

Puss in Boots walks to them and said "Let me come along…" The three of you look at him. He took off his hat and kneels down in one knee in front of Aqua, "Por I, the one and only, would take a great pleasure to escorta you," he grabs Aqua's hand "to protect you from the evil beast" he kiss it "and won't anything harm comes en your way…" he stood up and bow down with his hat.

"U-Uh…okay." said Aqua awkwardly with a light flush. Ven chuckles in amusingly.

"Okay, good luck and goodbye guys…" Shrek called smiling as he walks by with two of his triplets on his arm, "And Donkey, just take your time…let Puss helps you. Keep him _busy_ alright Puss?" he smiles down at Puss who nods and before setting his hat back on his head "Don't mind if I do…"

Fiona came behind him with one baby ogre on her arm and said to the three of you "Hope you guys will find your friend soon… See ya." She waves with Shrek as you three wave back. "Thanks!" Aqua called.

The fairytale creatures rushes to follow them as they wave you guys goodbye "See ya guys!" called Pinocchio, waving. "I'll miss you guys!" shouted Gingy from the pocket of the Wolf's dress. Wolf just waves. "See ya" "Ya! See ya!" "Ya, see ya!" called the three pigs, waving as they left to follow the rest.

When you, Aqua, Ven, and Puss turns, you all saw that Donkey and Dragon are flirting with each other as they rub cheek to cheek. "I'll miss ya baby… Take care of our kids while I'm gone!" he called. You, Ven, and Aqua jump up in surprise when he mention 'our kids' and look at each other. The dragon gives him tender loving blinking eyes before ascending up into the air and flies.

Donkey happily went to you four and said "It's _touring_ time!"

* * *

><p>When Terra first step through the roads of town and passes by many people who were walking pass by, he was completely oblivious that in each step he took, all of the ladies and women froze at their spot and look at him in awe… Amaze by his charm, some women even fainted when he walked pass them and collapse to the ground. A group of young women from the corner watch him walk with a blush and giggle, before whispering to each other.<p>

When he stops to look around, as in thinking what should he be doing next, a walking lady from the other side saw him then her eyes grew wild before suddenly bumping into a man who was carrying a huge pile of boxes. The huge pile of boxes fell all over her, which in result, a stack of books came out of the boxes and fell through her. The man stood up and yelled angrily at her to what she had just done but that lady seems unaware to both the books and his screaming as she continued to watch Terra in a dreamy sign.

When Terra finally figure's out what to do, he moves again which causes the lady to get back into reality after the man threw a book over her head.

As he was checking on what kind of stores that he should visit, a woman who walks by across him, looks at him in complete awe and follows his moving figure by her head and suddenly bumps into a Light Post which causes her to fell down on her butt, rubbing her temple with a wince.

Some women where he already passes by behind them, stop walking and look at him with wide eyed and a gape, until a tall huge ugly looking man with a long beard who appears from around the corner blocks their view which causes the girls to grew annoyed and usher for him to move out of their way, and when he confusingly did, Terra was gone which causes the girls to groan.

On the corner, there's a Café where the waitress is serving the customer by pouring the coffee pot into the coffee mug. When her eyes found Terra, the coffee mug overflowed but she still keeps pouring the pot until Terra is out of sight. When she turns, her eyes suddenly grew wide when the table is all wet and filled from the spilling coffee. The man looks very piss and she quickly apologizes.

When Terra passes by several buildings to go investigate them, some men were checking him out, admiring his well built body and good looks. Some guys even compare themselves to him, the hairstyle, the facial complexion, the muscles… Some men look at him with mouth gape and wide eyed like he is a god from above. Some step back to give him more space like he is the King of the place.

Almost everybody in the town is looking at him in amaze. The men in shock while the women in love. Some weren't watching where they were going and suddenly got bump to the person in front of them which causes them to fall right on top of each other. A man suddenly trip by accidentally stepping on a wet slippery ground and fall in front of the man who's sweeping. The bucket of water where the man uses for sweeping fell on the ground which causes them both men to get wet. Another man joined them by also accidentally stepping on the very wet floor and squashed them both.

Terra decided to go inside the Bakery Shop. Inside the bakery shop, there are a lot of baked goods such as pies, pastries, cakes, cupcakes, rolls, muffins, etc… but Terra ignore those and went to the counter to speak with the Muffin man. "Excuse me…" he called. The Muffin man looks at him, "Yes…? How may I help you?", "I was just wondering… How you seen three persons passing by one of these streets? One male and two females?" he gestures to the street outside. The muffin man looks outside and nods "You mean… them?" he gestures to the window door of the shop, showing two chubby females and one skinny male who just pass by.

Terra looks back at him and shakes his head, "No… Not them. I mean, one female with blue hair, another one with ~~~~ hair and one male who got a blond hair?" he stated. The muffin man looks at the window door with concentration and then points, "Oh… You mean them?" Terra looks at the door to find a woman with a Mohawk hairstyle that is colored blue, a lady with a ~~~~ Afro hairstyle and a male with a long blond hair that was being tied.

Terra shakes his head and looks back at him again, "No, the lady I was talking about has a short blue hair, wearing a black and blue halter top with black shorts." The man immediately pointed at the door, "Is she the one?" Terra turns to see woman with a very short crop blue hair who's wearing a long black and blue polka dots halter top dress.

Terra shakes his head "No. Not her. How about a young girl with a ~~~ ~~~~ hair who's wearing a little long white t-shirt with a knee length short?" the Muffin man shakes his head "Nope, sorry. Never seen a girl before." Terra gave him a strange look, "O…kay. Then have you seen a boy who looks to be 14 with a blond hair wearing a jacket that has white on the left side and black on right side?"

The Muffin man shook his head again "Nope, sorry. I've never seen a boy before too. Only men, women and ladies…" Terra gave him a weird look.

"Really…? Then, you haven't seen anybody who looks like a tourist to you that just went pass by in one of these streets?" he asks, gesturing to the streets from the window door.

"Yes I do." said the man. Terra's eyes lit up, "Really? Who?" he asks with hope filled his voice.

"You"

Terra signs in giving up, "Never mind…" "Thanks anyway." He turns to leave just when a voice called from the slammed open door.

"_Papa_!" called a gingerbread man who's smiling widely.

The Muffin man grins and called back "Gingy! Long time no see you! Where have ya been?" he ask with full surprise. The gingerbread man known as 'Gingy' laughs and runs pass by Terra to went to the man "I've been livin' in a swamp the whole time with Shrek and ~" the rest of his sentences were muffled when Terra left the store. He signs once again, thinking of how he would be able to get help in this big town when no one seems to have seen or notice his three friends. But he's not giving up now… So he stood up straight and continues his journey on searching for his missing friends.

* * *

><p>Donkey and Puss both escorted the three of you to the town where all of you notice how medieval these places look with Palaces, Castles, residences, some normal looking houses, many buildings that have many different kinds of stores and more as you three followed the two.<p>

As each of you passes by one of the Castle's gate, Ven reads them out loud from 'Cinderella', 'Snow White', 'Sleeping Beauty', to 'Repunzel' as he holds your hand. The three of you admired the town's structures and the civilization. You even notice that the town is also surrounded by an island where woods, forests, seas, beaches, and animals were placed since you can see from the distances many grassy mountains with trees. It is also located at the edge of the sea.

After minutes of admiring while walking, you three notice a very huge Palace very far away on the distance that caught the three of your attention. Donkey and Puss watch the three of your reactions in amuse.

"That's Shrek and Fiona's castle" stated Donkey, grinning as Puss smiles and nod.

Aqua and Ven's eyes widen as they both exclaim in surprise "What?" while you on the other hand, accepted the statement like it was just normal.

Donkey and Puss laugh out loud at Aqua and Ven's reaction and expression.

"Didn't you guys know?" ask Puss who still laughs in amuse.

"No… Just now we heard it. Is this…true?" ask Aqua in disbelief. Donkey clutches his stomach and collapse to the ground still laughing, "Ohhh Puss! H-Help me! I-I can't h-help it! (laugh) Go explain t-things to them!" Donkey is rolling on the floor, still laughing uncomfortably.

Puss joins him collapsing into the floor and clutches his stomach, "Ahahahah (wipes of tear) I-I'm sorry Donkey! I cannot h-h-help myself! You go explain!" he takes off his hat and covers his face while laughing.

Aqua and Ven look at each other in a raise brow before looking back at them. Donkey regains back his composure and stand up, grinning wildly "So you guys _**never**_ knew?" he ask in amuse.

"How could we? We've never been to this world before" said Ven.

"Ohh…. I see. No wonder you guys need a tour guide! Well let me explain, in this town, is basically a home for the Kingdoms… You know, princesses, princes, kings and queens," he rambles as Puss quickly stood up and elbows him on the rib "Ow!" Puss hisses in his ears "_I think they already know that_…"

Donkey looks at you all in wide eyed before grinning sheepishly, "Oh...hehe, right." He stood up straight and smiles "As you can see, this town is a place where all of the Royal families live, or in short, all Kingdoms stay. All of them rich and famous!" "And popular…" add Puss, Donkey nods and grins "Yup! And popular! Just like me and Shrek." Puss elbows him again on the ribs "Ow!" and hisses at his ears "_They don't give a damn_…" Donkey looks up at you three again and grins sheepishly "Oh." He stands up straight "So out of all Kingdoms, Fiona's are the most popular one, which also makes me and Shrek popular too!" Puss face palm.

"So how…?" Ven ask unsurely, completely confuse along with Aqua.

"How did ogres like Shrek and Fiona get to be one of the royals and why did they live in a swamp? Well… It's a long, _long_ story. Unless you want it summarize then I _**suck**_ at summarizing" said Donkey.

Puss face palm again and mutters "Just _tell_ them…" Donkey grins "Okay! Here goes… _Once upon a time, there lived ~ _ow!" Puss elbows him in the ribs and hisses "_You don't have to tell the whole story… Just __**summarize**__ it!_" Donkey glares at him "I've told you I already _suck _at summarize!" Puss glares back "Just tell them how Shrek and Fiona _met_!"

Donkey seems to think about it then smiles, nodding, "Yeah… Why not? So Fiona is a princess who's been trapped and imprisoned in a far far away tower and been cursed by an evil witch who put a spell on her since she was a child. A spell that will turn her into an ogress by every sun sets and only a 'true love' first kiss can break the spell. Shrek was the one who rescued her cause he was assigned by a Lord named Larquaad to bring him to her, in order to retrieve him swamp home back,"

Aqua and Ven nods slowly in understanding

"cause Lord Larquaad had exile many creatures from his kingdom and 'swamped' them to Shrek's swamp house. So in order for Shrek to live back to his 'peaceful' life, he has to rescue Princess Fiona for him in order to be a 'King' by marrying her."

"Uh huh"

"So Shrek and I went into a long, long journey to save Princess Fiona. And after saving her, Shrek and Fiona slowly started to fall in love while on our way back to a far away land of Duloc."

Aqua and Ven listen in concentration, interest to hear the rest

"When I discovered that Fiona was an ogress one night, she explained to me how she was cursed as a child and locked away in the castle and only a kiss of true love will return her back to her form and told me to keep it a secret, which I did. Then when the next day comes, Shrek brought Fiona to Lord Larquaad and left back to his swamp home which really makes me mad cause Fiona was about to get married shortly to Lord Larquaad and I knew that Shrek has a thing for her!"

"So what happened?" ask Aqua in amuse

"I convince Shrek to snap out of it and go get her! That he is her true love and that he should be the one to kiss her, not that stupid Lord Larquaad! So we went and interrupted their wedding that stops Lord Larquaard who was about to go kiss her, then Fiona suddenly transforming into an ogress which caused Lord Larquaard to grew disgusted and ordered for his guards to get them both imprisoned, but luckily Shrek called Dragon and got him eaten!" he grins at the end.

"What happened in the end?" Ven asks in interest.

Donkey grins "Shrek and Fiona admitted their love for each other then kiss, then later on, got married in the swamp"

"Wow… So that's how they met…"Aqua states in amuse. Donkey grins, nodding "Yup, that's how the story goes and that's how they met." "Interesting…" states Ven.

"So does that mean Shrek is the King?" ask Aqua, "No, Shrek said being a King doesn't fit him since he is an ogre so instead we got Fiona's long distance cousin who's name Arthur to be the one" replies Donkey.

"Oh…." they muse at the same time. The three of you now understood the whole story and followed the two.

"Permiten me to stick closely to you chicos till the very end for the quest to find esta Terra" offered Puss. You can see Ven suddenly frowns. Aqua saw this and frowns too, "Uh, you know… what if Terra is already on the shopping district probably searching for us? Maybe we should hurry" she suggests. Donkey and Puss nod in agree. "Alright, let's go!" said Donkey, leading the way.

"Canto we ride a taxi or something? My feet _**already**_ _sore_ from all the walking…" whines Puss, sitting down to take off his boots then rubs his feet. You also agree with him. Your feet were already sore too but you have no voice to tell.

Aqua nods "Alright, then the quicker we'll make it. So how do we get a ride?" Donkey grins "Leave that to me!" then runs to a carriage that's not so far away and stop the rider.

The four of you watch as Donkey starts talking to the rider in a quick sentence before grinning and hopping on the seat and gestures to the driver to head to you guys' way.

When the carriage is near enough, Donkey called with a grin "Hop in guys!" You guys look at each other before getting in.

Once you guys were already in with Donkey and Puss who sits right across facing to you, Aqua and Ven, Aqua ask "How did you manage to get us into this ride?" Donkey grins and replies in a low voice

"I've said we're all a _celebrity _and can invite him over for a'free' dinner if he gets us a _free_ ride"

* * *

><p>After a long distance ride to the shopping district where you're all suppose to be going, you guys finally reach to the destination of the streets filled with many luxurious shops, cafes, and restaurants. Sadly, you cannot read any of the sign that was post on one of the streets and the name of each shop, so you decided to watch the view instead.<p>

"Welcome to Rodeo Drive!" called Donkey as he leans over the seat to watch the scenery of many people walking, shopping, and hanging out with their friends, family.

All of you look around in awe and fascinated, admiring every store buildings that each has a glamorous look inside of what's selling, while all the while Ven keep a nonchalant expression.

When the carriage stops to set you all out, Donkey quickly thanks the driver and says that tonight he can get to have a free dinner at King Arthur's castle which the driver in return smiles and nods before leaving. When he left, Donkey burst out laughing and was rolling on the floor, "Hahahahah What a fool! Can't believe that he actually believe that he is gonna get a free dinner tonight at Fiona's castle! Ahaha I really did pull of a great prank! I can't wait to see his and their faces when he gets there tonight!" he continues laughing,

"You fool! Now you have causes us problemas and we'd still have a find a friend!" scold Puss. Donkey regains his breath and smiles "Not to worry! Shrek and Fiona are our friends and anyone who gave us a free 'ticket' gets a free dinner!" he stated.

"Just make seguro that no one of us gets into trouble pero you!" exclaim Puss

"Sure sure. (Donkey rolls his eyes) Like that's gonna happen. Let's go find where Terra is" he leads again as you all followed.

So Donkey began to escort and tours you all into Rodeo Drive while you four look around for any signs of Terra.

"So Rodeo Drive as you can see is a shopping place where all the rich and famous goes to shop and spent till the money drops and the credits runnin' low 'til they're all wasted and ain't rich anymore" explains Donkey as he began touring around the place,

"And where all the riches suddenly turns poor after spending so much money they have on each of the expensive all stars shops that they ended up with nothing on the wallet." he continues as he happily leads and shows around the place.

"S-So, all rich people here suddenly get _poor_?" ask Aqua in shock and disbelief. Donkey nods, grinning "Yup! This is where the 'moneyrupt' started. All the expensive stuff that steals away your money and soul. That's why, If I were you, I'd ~ _Ow_!" Puss elbows his side and hiss "Do _not_ lie to senorita! Can't you see she's also here to _shop _for Ven's sister?"

He smiles apologetically to Aqua and bows "My apologies… My amigo here doesn't know the true purpose of why you're here with your friends. You see, he's a complete ignorante…"

Donkey glares "Hey! I was the _one_ who sent you all here you stupid talkin' cat!"

Puss glares "Hey! Who you calling stupid you estúpido talking burro!

"You of course you stinkin' puss in boots!" Donkey yelled.

"Pedazo de carne con patas!" Puss yelled back. (Translate_: You four-legged bag of meat_!)

Aqua stops them "Hey, hey! No fighting, please…!" she looks at them in a sweat drop as she raise her palms up waving, before frowning when she saw Ven in a sad mood. "I uh, don't think this is going to work… So, why not we go search around for Terra first before we go shopping? In that way, we won't have to worry about him while we shop, right?" she stated.

Ven's eyes lit up and then nods in determination. You nod, also agreeing that Terra is more important in the moment than your needs. Donkey and Puss looks at each other before looking at Aqua and nod.

"So what, how and where should we start? Should we scream his name at the top of our lungs till he can hear us? Shall we split up to find him? Shall we ask some random people if they've seen him? Should we check the entire areas and places for him, though that'll take forever or should we use magic?" Donkey rambles.

At the word 'magic', Puss suddenly got an idea "Perhaps we could ask for the Fairy Godmother's help…" Donkey snaps his head at him in surprise and disbelief "Are yo' out of your mind? She's our enemy who tried to steal Fiona away from Shrek! Remember what the last time she did when she got us locked up in cell so that she could use ~" Donkey keeps rambling on as Puss just remain calm, with his arm cross to his side and his finger tapping his chin in thought, then he looks up

"There's no other way… The Fairy Godmother's help is the only quickest option for us to find Terra. Besides, Aqua, Ven and - had nothing of against the Fairy Godmother from the past so I guess it's safe." states Puss.

"But why does the fairy godmother tried to steal Fiona away from Shrek?" Ven asks in surprise and disbelief.

"Well, the evil Fairy Godmother had a son named 'Prince Charming' who claims himself that he was supposed to be with Princess Fiona. So the evil Fairy Godmother did everything she could to get her son to marry Fiona and wants Shrek dead! She tried making Fiona fallin' in love with him but luckily Fiona's love for Shrek is so strong that in the end, they still live happily ever after!" he grins at the end.

"So we see… Then maybe we could use the Fairy Godmother's help to help us find Terra back" stated Ven excitedly. Donkey's eyes widen.

Aqua nods in agree "Yeah, I guess that's the only quick way to know where he is… So where could we find her?" Donkey's jaws drop.

"Let me mostrar the way… I already saber the place so allow me to escorta you all" Puss offers, already beginning to lead you all. Aqua and Ven nods before one of them took your hands and follow. Donkey looks a bit hesitant, "I knew this is gonna be a bad idea…" he mutters to himself before reluctantly follows you four.

* * *

><p>"Sorry, never seen them"<p>

After many failed attempts of asking most people if they have seen his three friends by describing their exact scriptures and if they have seen them walking pass by, Terra signs and almost felt like giving up when one guy in a Candy store, where Terra is now, approaches him and said "If you're trying to look for help, then the Poison Apple Inn is a place to go. There, you can get someone who can help you on finding the persons you were looking for…"

Terra seems to like the idea "Where's that place?"

The man tells him the location…

Terra is now walking while looking up at the Inn that has an apple with a bar name written on it that reads 'The Poison Apple'. There are also some signs that read 'Unhappy Hour 5-7', 'No one under XXI admitted' 'We reserve the right to BEHEAD anyone', and 'NO SKINS NO BONES NO SERVICE''.

He studies the bar for a while, probably thinking why it's named The Poison Apple and what's with the other signs. He saw a one eyed creature, a Cyclops, standing beside the door with his arms cross and Terra thought that he's probably the bouncer of The Poison Apple bar.

The Cyclops studies him for a long second before nodding his head and lets him in.

Once he's inside, he saw many weird people around doing some crazy things. Like when he passes by, there are group of witches who were casting some dark spells on random objects and transform it into looking it funny and weak, while others prank on some customers by changing their looks like the hair, changing it into funny hairstyle, the clothes, making it look colorful, the shoes, turning it to a huge size, before laughing maniacally at their work.

There's a man wearing a large feathered hat, a black coat and knee breeches who's playing the piano while singing. Terra notices that he has a hook placed on his right hand and wondered what happened to his hand before…

There's a group of men sitting on a big round table, playing a deck of cards while drinking at the same time. Terra saw that some of them were cheating while distracting their play mates by urging them to drink more.

When he look to the other side, he saw that there's an arm wrestling challenge going on between two big guys as crowds of men and some women encircled around them and cheer on their bet of choice. There's a group of drinking contest where men were being challenged to see how much glasses of beers they can take and muster while being cheered by men who were already drunk.

What is this place? He thought as he looks around with narrowed eyes.

Some guys were pushing each other playfully while drinking in a drunk-state, since the words they spoke were already slurred. Some men look already stone and gloomy, like they have no care of the world as they chat viciously with their friends.

He saw a headless man who's wearing an armor drinks wine alone in one of the table which causes Terra to arch a brow. How the heck he drinks without a head?

There are plenty of more other people doing some other things that Terra doesn't even wants to know so he went to the bar and sit on one of the bar stools then sign, "How am I able to gonna get help here…" he murmurs under his breath. One man beside him heard that and then turns to him. He studies Terra for a moment and then asks with a raise brow

"Are you here for help?"

Terra turns to him to see a blond haired man who's wearing a black and blue prince clothing with long black boots and has a charming appearance in him. Terra nods, "Yes, I'm trying to find someone who could help me find my lost friends…"

The man looks at him in amuse, "Help? So I see… Then maybe I could help."

Terra looks at him in surprise "Really? You would?"

The man smirks in amuse "Yes…If, I get a _favor_ in return…"

Terra nods, "Anything just to get my friends back…"

With that said, the man grins and called the female bartender from the counter, "Mabel!" When the female bartender in dress turns from wiping a glass, she leans on the counter with fist on her hip, brow raise "Yes my prince?"

Terra gave a weird look at her deep tone male voice. The man gave a disgusted look "Eugh, I'm not your prince!" then he gestures to Terra and the bartender looks at him "A drink for us both! My treat." he smiles at Terra. Mabel looks at Terra and leans closer to study him "Hmm… I've never seen you around here before. Are you new?" Terra felt uneasy the way her eyes examines him "Err yes… First time around here..."

Mabel smirks and raise her brow in amuse "First time to drink?"

Terra's face slightly redden "Er…yes." Mabel laughs and then smiles at him "I wonder how such a pretty boy like you didn't get to experience something like drinking yet…" she stated in amuse as Terra flush in embarrassment. "I've been _busy_…" he mutters.

Mabel laughs again "Well pretty boys, drinks comin' right up!" she said before going to get them a drink.

"So… What kind of help do you need?" asks Terra in curious.

The man smirks, "Well, there was this 'monster' who'd stole away my true love from me and ruined my chance of a life time to be a _king_ after he got away with _my_ princess and already married her…" Terra nods in understanding and gestures for him to continue

"Then he sent her back to his _swamp _home and _god_ knows whatever he has done to her… probably already 'eating' her, or worst! He probably already _killed _and _left_ her body dead deep under the _**mud**_ which supposedly be her 'grave' then hid somewhere so that nobody could find him…"

Terra gave him a horrid look

The man signs dramatically and looks down sadly "And I tried everything to get her back to me… Now he has made her a _monster_ who looks just exactly like him and stolen a chance for me to save her! Her true love!" he rants

"And we were supposed to _rule_ the entire Kingdom together with me being the 'King' and her being the 'Queen'!" "But no! He ruined it! He ruined the whole thing! Instead, he made Princess Fiona to be his and broke our 'happily ever after' life!"

"So what should I do?" asks Terra, just as Mabel place two rugs of beers in front of them "Here ya go lads" she smiles and winks at the two before she left (more like _he_)

The blond man stops exaggerating and looks at him, suddenly remembers that his there.

He smiles menacingly, "I want you to kill him…"

Terra nods, "How will I find him?''

The man grins evilly then tells him the plan…

* * *

><p>You all follow Puss who's leading the way through the forest to reach to the Fairy Godmother's Potion Factory.<p>

"This is _insane_ man! How could yo' all expect that the evil Fairy Godmother to be _nice_ all of the sudden after all the _evil_ things she'd done to us?"

You all ignore his ramblings and follow Puss.

"I mean, there's always 'another' way out to find a way to look for Terra instead of _risking_ our lives to that 'evil' Fairy Godmother instead!" "Let's say, how about _Merlin_? Isn't he a wizard that uses magic and stuff and can teleport us to places where we wanna go?"

"Merlin lives far far away Burro. Plus, we don't have much time to go there when we're already near the town of Far Far Away" stated Puss as he continues to lead the way. "But 'least it'll be _safer_! That way we won't get into trouble!" Donkey exclaims.

"The Fairy Godmother's potions will be able to assist us into gaining some abilities that may help us find Terra" Puss explains as you three listen in interest. "So what do we have to do with the potions?" ask Aqua. "Drink it." he stated. "Is it…safe?" ask Ven, tilting his head. "Depends on the potions… There are some safe while there some not"

Aqua and Ven sweat drop while you just accept it like it is just normal.

"I don't think that the Fairy Godmother would be interested to help. After all she's a selfish person ya know?" stated Donkey.

"I han a plan…" said Puss who's in deep in thought. The four of you look at him in wonder. "Donkey and I will hide outside the woods while wait for the three of you to talk to the fairy godmother. So it won't be obvious that we are with you chicos"

Donkey think about then grins "Hell yeah! Y' not?" he jogs around excitedly, "Puss and I'll just had hide and wait around the corner while you guys be done with the fairy, so that we could find Terra in peace!"

"Alright, sounds like a good plan to me" smiles Ven before he turns "What do you think? Aqua? -?"

You and Aqua smile and nod in agreeing.

The five of you were now crouching down behind the grass, staring at the factory. The outside of the place appears to be a picturesque cottage, but when you look up, you can see its true shape, a huge building with smoke coming out of the chimneys.

"That's the Old Keebler Place" stated Donkey. Aqua and Ven looks at him "What?" they both ask at the same time.

Donkey looks at them "That's where the elves work for the fairy godmother. They make potions." "Last time, we sneaked into the factory and stole a 'Happily Ever Potion' that Shrek believes it will restore's Fiona's love for him…" Puss stated. "And what happened after stealing that potion?" ask Aqua in full interest.

Donkey grins "I've transformed into a _stallion_ while Shrek into a handsome _human_!"

You, Ven and Aqua looks at him in surprise. "Really?" ask Ven in surprise. "Right, but in order to make the change permanent, Shrek has to kiss Fiona by midnight. But since Shrek and Fiona preferred to stay in an ogre form, they've reverted back into their ogre selves." said Donkey with a little bit of annoyed. Puss chuckles, "He prefiere to stays as a permanent stallion" Aqua and Ven chuckles in amuse while you just accepted the state like it is just normal.

Donkey argues "I did look _great _as a _stallion_!" The three of them laughs even more amusingly.

"Now you guys go and talk to the fairy godmother whose probably inside her office. We'll wait here to make sure we're no seen..." urge Puss. Ven and Aqua nod and stand up with you, beginning to walk straight to the factory.

"Oh! And find us some potion that can transform us into something like mythical creatures!" called Donkey then was hit by Puss "Ow! What was that for?" Puss hisses "_There here for their __**friend**__. Stop fooling around!" _Puss grins sheepishly at the three of you before waving, "_Good luck _amigos! We'll be _waiting_!"

You three smile at him and nod. Ven grins and waves at them "Alright! Wish us luck!" he called before following you and Aqua to the picturesque cottage.

* * *

><p>The three of you went inside and first entered into a reception desk. You three saw a small elf on the desk, typing on the computer with speed, and approach to him.<p>

He doesn't seem to notice you three standing there in front of him so the three of you look at each other with raise brow.

*Ahem*

He continues typing.

Ven clears his throat again

*Ahem*

The elf looks up and raises his brow

"What?"

The three of you look at each other strangely before looking at him. "We're here to see the fairy godmother" stated Ven.

The elf stops his typing and gives you three a strange look before stating

"Fairy Godmother's dead."

"WHAT?" exclaim both Aqua and Ven in surprise as you stare with your eyes widen.

The elf clears his throat mockingly before repeating, "I_ said_, Fairy Godmother is _dead_."

Aqua glares at him, "What? That can't be!" she exclaims in disbelief. The elf glares back at her "It already is _be_. Fairy Godmother is already _gone_ so you guys can't see her."

Ven glares at him, "Then who's in charge of the factory?"

"Merlin"

Both Aqua and Ven's eyes widen in surprise while you, still keep a straight look.

"M-Merlin…?" Ven asks in disbelief

The elf glares at him "_Yes, _Merlin, already in charge of the factory and Fairy Godmother's _replacement_. Anything else…?"

Aqua nods "Yes. Then we would like to see Merlin." The elf nods and types something before looking back at them "Names?"

"Aqua, Ven and ==='' states Ven

The elf reaches to the small microphone then called "Merlin, you got customers! The names Aqua, Ven and ===!" "_Oh! Tell them I'm in my office!" _replies a very loud voice through the speakers which causes the three of you to wince.

The elf looks at you three and said "He's in his office'' before going back to his microphone "Told them!" "_Okay! Good!"_ the three of you wince and cover your ears "_Tell them I'll be waiting!"_

The elf looks at you three again and said "He'll be waiting" before going back to his microphone and called "Told them!" "_Okay good! Send them over!" _"I will!" the elf said before shutting down the microphone. "He's in his room waiting."

Aqua and Ven look at each other weirdly before Ven asks "Shouldn't you be sending us there?"

The elf gives him a weird look, "Then who will look after the desk? I am a receptionist _not_ a sender"

"O…kay. Can you at least tell us where the office room is?" asks Ven.

The elf gives him another disbelief look "There are only three rooms here… the Main room, the Office and the Potion room."

"So which is the Office room?" asks Aqua.

The elf also gives her a disbelief look, "There are already signs on each top of the doors that already tells which kind of room it is."

"Oh."

"So are you guys done?"

Aqua narrows her eyes at him before replying sarcastically "_Yes_… Thank you." She grabs your hand and began to lead the way "Come on Ven."

Ven follows.

"~"~"~"~"~~"~"

You guys enter inside the Office room to find the place filled with many books on the shelves and saw an old man with a large white beard, wearing a blue robe and a wizard's hat, sitting on his desk while reading a book with full concentration.

He looks fully concentrated on that book that he doesn't even notice you three standing awkwardly in front of him. After a few awkward silent, Aqua decides to break the tension, "Uh… Merlin?"

Merlin looks up from his book and quickly turns surprise to see you three "Ah! You must be Aqua, Ven and ===! My sincere apology… I was fully focused on my book that I forgot to sense your presence." "I-It's okay…" reassured Aqua with a wave of her hands as Ven nods smiling, "We're only here to see if maybe you could help us get a potion to find our friend Terra" Ven stated.

Merlin's eyes widen "Oh! To find a friend I see…" he quickly stood up, "Then follow me to the potion room please… I'll see if I can help"

Aqua and Ven look at each other hopefully then nods. "Er… thanks" said Ven before following Merlin with the two of you.

The three of you followed him into the Potion room and saw many various types of potion with different colors were being displayed on the very wide and high shelves. There are also shelves that's had been filled with many books. There are some large cauldrons that were being gathered everywhere.

Merlin started searching for a potion while you three look around.

"Hmm… What potions could possibly be useful in searching for a friend…" Merlin began as he examines each of the potions.

"Anything that has special abilities…?" stated Ven unsurely.

"Special abilities…Hmm, special abilities" Merlin murmurs as he studied each potion, "So what kind of special abilities can you guys inquire?" he asks.

Aqua and Ven both gave each other uneasy looks. Ven shrugs "Anything that can help us find our friend…?"

"Right… Something that could help you guys can find your friend…" Merlin stated as he searches each potion. Ven sweat drop.

You begin to head to the potions' place

"So are your bodies strong enough to take effect from the potion's liquid?" ask Merlin, studying the three of you with serious look.

Aqua and Ven look at you to see you examining the potions with your back facing them before looking back at Merlin, "It's just for the two of us… === is not really a part of this so you don't have to give your full concern" stated Aqua as Ven nods.

You froze.

_What?_

Not part of…this? You look down and frown suddenly. But…why? You were also willing to take a potion so that you could also help them find Terra…

Merlin looks relief "Then be warned, the potion can only ~" Merlin begins explaining but you only block it. You felt angered, you felt betrayed… How come they won't let you try out a potion if you three were planning to find Terra by the use of the potion?

You felt so confuse as you suddenly felt like crying. Then, a plan struck you and suddenly had an idea. You look back to see Aqua and Ven nod in understanding in one of Merlin's explanation and warnings before quickly turning back.

"And make sure to drink it properly before ~"

You look at each potion in front of you and wonder what to choose. Hmm… Should you drink the green one? No… Red seems to taste much better. But when your eyes sees the colors pink, purple, orange, white, and blue, you knew this will be hard for you to choose.

Aqua and Ven nod. "Got it" they stated. Merlin nods at them before climbing up the ladder to check the top first. "Okay, Let's see…" he began examining the first one "Hmm… This is the 'Health' station" he slides his ladder to the right side to the three of you's surprise.

"Shiny hair, smooth hair, velvet hair… What? This is the 'Hair' station!" he slides his ladder to the left side.

Aqua and Ven watch him in a sweat drop.

Merlin narrows his eyes at the Potion's description, muttering "Slender body…smooth skin…slim figure…" he sighs "Skin station…"

You quickly decided on the pink potion, since it reminds you of strawberry.

Merlin moves to the other way and was about to read when his face turns red "U-Uh… Move on to the next…" he quickly shifts to the right.

"What kind of potion do we really need Merlin?" ask Aqua

"A potion to help you guys search your friend…" he answered up from the shelves.

Aqua looks at him funny as Ven covers his mouth, snickering.

You quickly 'secretly' drink the pink potion when you saw Merlin is almost at searching your side.

Ven grins and places his arms behind his head "I've see these potions had been organized…" he stated in amuse. Merlin nods from up the ladder "Yes, Fairy Godmother really likes keeping things organized since she probably had nothing else to do…" he stated, picking up a potion to examine it with narrow eyes.

"Which saves me half of the work, since I've been too busy lately reading some books." he stated.

You place the now empty potion, hoping the potion that you've just drink can help you in any way to find Terra, and quickly hid it at the very back so it won't be seen, and just in time for Merlin to come your way to check out the potions. You quickly pretend to examine just like him.

"So is Fairy Godmother really bad?" ask Ven. Aqua quickly nudge her elbow at him and gives him the 'look'. Ven grins sheepishly when he realized what he just said "Er… I mean…"

"Quite frankly, yes… She's always full concern of herself rather than the others and cares more about her public appearance. That's why I've never trusted her…"

"Is she a celebrity?" asks Aqua in curious. Merlin laughs and replies "_Was_! She no longer exists anymore. Which I am gladly thankful for… No more of her evil mind games."

"How did she die?" asks Ven. Merlin shrugs, "That, my friend, is also what I want to know…" he picks out a potion and mutters "_Growth age_" before placing it back. He quickly shifts around again the huge shelves and randomly picks out potions.

"Ah hah!"

You all look up to see him holding an orange potion with a grin. "The Sight-jacking!" he exclaims

You all look at him with raise brow.

"Sight-jacking…?" they both ask in confusion.

Merlin nods with a grin, before stepping down from the ladder and approaches to them. He places the orange potion down and begins to explain

"A sight jacking allows you to 'hijack' the sight of any character…Such as your friends, enemies, people that you don't know…"

You pick out a similar colored orange potion from the shelves and went to the table where the potion Merlin picked is.

"Whoever the character's sight that you wanted to check, can be automatically seen on that person's point of view… With much ease, you'll suddenly know where might your friend is without trouble if you think of him. No matter how far the distances of that person's are…you still have the ability to keep that sight jack in use to see where that person is."

Ven grins as Aqua smiles.

"Really…? Cool! Then we can get to know where Terra is after drinking the potion right?" ask Ven excitedly.

Merlin smiles and nod, "That is correct. But beware…some potions may only temporarily last until 36 hours. Meaning, you've guys got 1 in a half days _still_ to stay remain on being visualize from any person's own scenery."

"No problem" stated Ven, grinning. Aqua smiles and nods "We got it."

You examine both of the same colored orange potions and tried to make a difference while they were talking.

Merlin smiles at them two and is about to turn this way, when you quickly place one orange potion down and the other twin back on the shelves.

Merlin and the two approaches to your way as you stood there innocently. Merlin picks up the potion and gave it to Aqua who took it.

"Keep it in good hands… Do not let it slip or be spilt. Or else I cannot help you anymore since the rest of these potions had nothing else to give to help you three find your friend back."

Aqua nods, "I will…" as she holds the potion firmly.

Ven smiles at him "Thank you! We really appreciate your help. To tell you the truth, I was kinda glad that the fairy godmother wasn't here to help. She kind of freaks me out…hehe"

Everybody laugh as Merlin and Aqua pat him humorously. "You haven't even met her yet…Then again, you won't ever gonna have to meet her."

Ven laughs then grins, "I see…Well, who cares about the fairy? Let's focus on finding Terra instead. Since maybe, he's also out there already searching for us…"

Aqua nods "Right… Guess we better hurry then. I could almost sense that he's desperately out there looking for us."

Merlin nods, "Okay, go ahead guys. Don't want to keep your friend waiting right?"

The three of you smile and nod. Aqua smiles at him "Thanks Merlin. We'll never forget this…"

Merlin smiles and nod "Its fine my dear…It's one of the greatest wizard's job"

Aqua smiles at him one last time before she left. Ven grins and waves at him "Ehehehe. Thanks again!" he called again as he grabs your hand and leads you both out. You smile at Merlin, giving him a wave before you two disappear.

Merlin smiles and waves 'goodbye' at you both…

"I'm glad I took this job..."

* * *

><p>When you guys returned outside, Donkey and Puss suddenly came out of their 'hiding' spot and scold at the three of you<p>

"What took ya guys so long?" scolds Donkey, clearly not amuse after all the long wait.

Aqua and Ven smile, "You guys didn't told us that the fairy godmother was already dead" Ven states.

Both Donkey and Puss's eyes turn wide with a mouth gape before looking at each other sheepishly in a sweat drop.

Donkey turns to look at you three in an apologetic grin "Oh! Uh... we forgot to mention to you guys hehe. I guess living at home with Shrek can really get your memories lost right Puss?"

Puss also grins in apologetic with his hat down "Sí… hehehe. I also totally forgotten."

Donkey chuckles "Yeah… And that was a long time ago you know? Like, three years or so?"

"_Three months" _whispers Puss harshly

"Yeah, _three months_, and ~" he stops himself, suddenly realizing what he just said. He looks slowly up at you three and gives a sweet smile "You got it."

"I think we better go. The town to Far Far Away kingdom is a long place to go" Aqua stated as Ven nods. They started walking as you follow.

You guys are now having a long walk through the forest.

"So…Can you guys drink the potion now? I would really like to see how the magic works!" grins Donkey as he follows you all excitingly while eyeing the potion Aqua's holding.

Aqua looks down at him, smiling "We'll start to drink when we almost reach the town"

Ven nods, smiling down at him. Donkey whines "Aw come on guys! It's already been like a _2o_-_minute _walk and none of you have decided to drink it yet?" he asks in disbelief.

Aqua and Ven looks at each other hesitantly before at him, "Uh…We think it's best if we wait a little longer…" said Ven, looking uneasy.

Donkey huff and said "Time is pretty wastin' right now and Terra might probably be already lost tryin' to desperately find you three. So if I were you guys, I would probably start drinkin' and movin' as so to not waste time worrying about a friend who might already be lost somewhere on the woods…"

"I'm afraid he's right chicos…" agreed Puss.

Aqua and Ven look at him in worry. While you in the other hand completely agree with him that they should start drinking the potion now to start finding Terra.

Aqua stares down at the potion she's holding before nodding up with Ven.

"Alright… Guess it's time we should start now" she stated, slowly bringing it up to look at him.

Donkey looks up at the sky to see the clouds almost turning grey "Better hurry. I've got a feelin' that we might ended up getting all soaked" he warned, gesturing to the sky. You all look at the sky to see it almost looks like it is about to rain.

Aqua looks at the sky with worry before looking at the potion. She looks at Ven who slowly backs away from her. She extends her arm with the potion in hand to him "You go first Ven"

Ven's eyes widen in surprise "Wha~? N-No! You go first Aqua. Didn't Merlin gave that to you _first_?" he raises his brow at the end.

Aqua furrows her eyebrows at him, arm still extending "He wants me to _hold_ it. Now drink it"

Ven looks at the potion with a little bewildered.

"Hurry up guys! I can feel my furs tingling" said Puss, looking up at the sky.

Ven looks back at the potion before taking a deep breath. He took the potion from Aqua and reluctantly drinks it. You all watch him with curious gaze, wondering what will happen as soon as he's done.

He stops drinking in halfway. He stood there, looking straight pass you guys as you all look at him with concern.

"Ven?" called Aqua.

Ven looks at her, "I don't feel anything…" The four of you look at him in surprise

"Huh?" "Wha?" "What?" they said at the same time.

Ven looks at you all and shakes his head, "I tried to sight jack one of you guys but it doesn't seem to work…" he stated.

Aqua looks at him with brows raise "Huh? How come…?"

Ven shrugs, looking at her "I don't know… It doesn't have any effect when I tried sight jacking all of you and I still don't feel anything"

"Let me try" said Aqua as she took the potion from Ven then drinks it. You all watch her also in wonder.

When she's done with the potion, which is now empty. She looks at you all and you can see that she's trying to concentrate.

"Does it have an effect?" ask Puss.

Aqua frowns and shakes her head "No… I even don't feel anything. I tried doing what Ven tried but nothing seems to work" she stated.

All of you frown in wonder.

"Maybe it was just the magic's effect... Last time when I remembered me and Shrek drank the potion, we even don't feel anything at first, but later on after a few hours, we awake to find ourselves transformed into a stallion and a human" stated Donkey. Puss nods "Sí… maybe it was only delayed, but will work later. Just have to wait"

"So you think it might work?" asks Ven with hope.

Donkey nods and was about to reply when a heavy rain suddenly pours down to you all, which instantly causes you to all get soaking wet.

"_**Run**_!" exclaims Donkey as he starts running and leading the way. You all run and follow him.

"Why do I suddenly get this _déjà vu_ feeling?" called Puss.

"~"~"~"~"~"~"

You five managed to find a barn where Donkey and Puss stated that that was the same barn they went before when they tried to run away from the rain…

You guys waited for the storm to go out as you five watched the heavy rain. You felt yourself suddenly falling asleep while during the wait and unintentionally collapse down into the ground where Aqua and Ven immediately grabs you in case you break your head. They placed you on one of the cleanest area for you to sleep with before returning back to Donkey and Puss to wait for the rain to stop.

Then afterwards, they suddenly fall asleep too and collapse to the ground. Donkey and Puss followed.

"~"~"~"~"~"~"

You woke up from a sudden loud scream.

"AQUA! WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?" a female voice shrieks.

"Wha~ huh? What the… What! Why did I look like this?" exclaims a melodic male voice.

"Guys, keep it down! Can't you see we're tryin' to ~ WOAH!" exclaims Donkey in the end.

Huh? What's going on? You thought.

You rub your eyes to erase your sleepiness away then slowly stood up.

You look down then _froze…_


	6. Chapter 6

You stood frozen in surprise and were utterly shock at the sight in front of you.

_Really_?

Aqua and Ven have transformed to a different _gender_!

You blink repeatedly to make sure you weren't hallucinating… you weren't. Right now that stood across you, is a male version of Aqua and a female version of Ven. They look freak out at their transformation, unable to believe that they completely change gender and making some exclaiming sounds as they study themselves.

You, Donkey and Puss stared wide eyed with a gape, surprise.

When Aqua and Ven turned, they were even more surprise to see the _new _you. You had transformed from young, cute and adorable to an adolescent, beautiful and mature girl. Your age must be like 13-14 just like Ven's age and almost got the same height as him though he's a bit taller than you. Needless to say, you look so beautiful…

"====…?" they gasp in surprise (You notice even their voice had changed. Aqua got a males' voice while Ven got a females' voice)

You blush a bit when all of them are now focus on you. While you were still stunned to see them changed into a complete new look. It's like you haven't met them before. Like this is the first time you see them…

Aqua has changed into a charming young man. A male version of Aqua with mesmerizing eyes, toned body, and a little different styled hair. You thought you saw a different person, but you can tell from the aquatic eyes that it's Aqua. Even if you knew it's Aqua, for some reason you felt uneasy when he ~ _she_ looks at you.

Ven transformed into a pretty blonde girl, with tantalizing eyes, feminine figure, and long blond hair. You have to admit, Ven looks like a princess in his female version. And doll perhaps?

The only problem is… their clothes do not _fit _them anymore, and looks kind of funny on them.

You stare at them in awe as their stare back at you in awe. Even Donkey and Puss were more surprise to see you. With all of them staring at you in awe and surprise, you can't help but flush redder.

"===? Is that you…?" ask the male Aqua. You almost melt at the sound of his voice.

They all still stare at you in awe.

You look down then nod.

"Woah…" said the female Ven in awe.

"Wow ===, you've grown up! That was quick!" exclaims Donkey, grinning at you. You sweat drop.

Aqua the male approaches you, which makes your heart rise, and touch your face.

You _froze_.

W-What's he doing?

Aqua the male studies you with concentration. You slightly tremble from under his touch and reluctantly look up to meet his eyes. You blush, suddenly regret it.

His gaze is so… _intimidating. _The way his eyes focus on you makes you feel like you're about to faint in any second.

What is this feeling…? You never felt anything like this before!

"How did you get like this…?" he asks, still studying you. The female Ven approaches the two of you and ask, "-, did you drink one of the potion?" looking at you in suspicious.

You blush and look down guiltily. Oh _sh~_

"That's cool!" exclaims Donkey, running up to you "So you also sneak into drinkin' some of the potion without bein' seen! You shoulda have brought me one too then maybe this I could turn into a _unicorn_!"

Puss walks up to the four of you "You know what they say… curiosity kills the cat"

Donkey grins at him "And you're the _cat_, so why aren't you dead yet?" Puss glares at him "Causa I'm especial cat, the 'Master Cat' or which I've prefer 'Puss in Boots'…"

Donkey rolls his eyes "Yeah yeah whatever boots kitty, no need to tell your story cause we already know. I'm more interested in seein' these guys already transformed!"

Male Aqua and female Ven glares at him "This is not what we have in mind!" exclaims Ven in a feminine voice.

Boy… someone is in the bad mood.

Donkey shrinks back, "Wha…really? I thought you guys had said you wanted to transform" he states in confusion.

Aqua the male glares at him, "Do you think _these_ transformed can _help_ us _find_ Terra?"

Donkey looks at the male Aqua and female Ven then studies them for a while…

"Uh…yes?"

They both face palm in frustrate. Puss mutters "_lo que es un idiota…_" (Translation: What an idiot)

Suddenly, you realize something. Last time when you were at the potion room with the two, who were listening to Merlin's word, you accidentally _misplace_ the two same potions on the wrong place. _Guilt _suddenly explores inside you and you felt the urge to apologize to them, but seeing their very piss off mood now may not be a good idea…

"I thought Merlin said that we'll be able to have the ability to 'sight jack' _instead _of transforming like _**this**_" female Ven states in a growl.

"Perhaps he gave you guys the wrong potion?" states Puss. Aqua and Ven snap their head at him in shock "WHAT!" they both exclaim in surprise. You and Puss wince. You gulp.

Your heart is pounding so fast. You realize that you would never have the guts to confess them (even though you're mute). You were just so_ scared_.

"Don't worry mi senor…" Puss kneels down and took male Aqua's while removing his hat "You will still remain to be part of my life…" he place a kiss on his hand "No matter what changes you may encounter, my heart will always be there for que…" he rubs his cheek against Aqua's hand in a loving manner. Aqua the male just stood there with a sweat drop.

"Why'd you have drunk the potion?" Ven the female asks at you with a frown. You look at her in guilt and embarrass.

_Because I wanted to help you guys find Terra_… You thought.

Aqua looks at your way and also wants to know the answer.

"Because she wants to transforms herself just like you guys! Ain't that right ===?" Donkey grins at you. You smile slightly back and nod, thankful that he saves you from that dreaded question.

Aqua the male smiles at you and places a hand on your shoulder, "I think I _like_ you're new look. You look even more gorgeous when you're grown…" You instantly blush. Why? You don't know… You knew he is _Aqua_ and always felt comfortable around her…but _him_, there's something strange inside you that makes you feel slightly uncomfortable around the new Aqua.

You shyly smile back at him in thanks before quickly looking away. What is _wrong _with you?

Ven smiles at you and nod "Yeah, she really does look gorgeous… I bet you're curious to try out some of the potions to see what you'll transform like huh?" she chuckles in amuse. You blush and look down shyly. Not really…

Everyone laughs.

"So what now…? How are we suppose to find Terra?" ask Aqua.

Donkey and Puss suddenly laugh, which causes the three of you to look at them in curious. "Man! You guys look _funny _on those clothes!" snorts Donkey. Puss takes off his hat and covers his head, shaking "_Oh dios! Ayuda! _I can't stop laughing!" he shakes his head before falling backwards to the floor, rolls around laughing uncontrollably.

The three of you look at your clothes and suddenly flush in embarrass.

Aqua in his clothes makes him look like he is cross dressing in girls' clothes. Ven looks funny in her clothe, it doesn't match her feminine looks. The clothes looks too small and tight for you, making you feel uncomfortable…

"Damn…" mutters Aqua.

Donkey and Puss calms themselves before standing up slowly. "I guess this also means not only - will be buying clothes, but you guys _definitely_ be needin' to buy some clothes to make yo'all look _decent_!" laughs Donkey along with Puss.

Ven glares, "No! I'm not going to the town like _this_. We're going back to Merlin so that he can transform us back into our normal-selves and give us the _right_ potion this time" she stated firmly.

Donkey, you and Puss look surprise at this.

"No way we're goin' back to the Old Keebler's Place! Nah uh! We had enough long walk and that's how it is!" stated Donkey, "Yeah… The walk to town and the walk back to Merlin's would take us forever to find Terra" agreed Puss.

Aqua and Ven frown at this. You frown at their frowns. It was your _fault_ that life's chance of finding Terra has ruined! You felt terrible…

"I think Terra might already be somewhere in the town searching for you guys. Besides, didn't you guys told that you were all suppose to teleport to town together? Maybe he thinks you're all there already." stated Puss.

"Yeah but… we can't go to town looking like this" Ven gestures to her clothes, "What will people think?" Aqua nods "I think we look embarrassing enough to enter the town wearing like this" he stated.

Donkey smiles, already having an idea, "Hey, I know! Why not we go shopping and find you guys some clothes to wear for the mean time? Maybe that'll help!" he suggest. Aqua and Ven thought about it.

"Unless you guys would like to _swap_ clothes for short…"

Aqua and Ven quickly looks up and snap "No!"

Donkey grins "Alright then! From on, Aqua will become _Aqu_ and Ven will become _Venus_." Aqua and Ven look at each other uneasily. Should they agree?

"Cause you know your names sounds too weird with your new looks" stated Donkey as Puss nods in agree "Cierto(_True_)… Your names don't match your genders"

"Alright fine… I guess I can go with it" agreed Aqu. Ven crosses her arms and frowns, looking at Donkey in disapprove, "_Venus_?" she raise a brow.

Donkey grins "_What_? You don't like on being the goddess of love and beauty?" he teasse. Aqu chuckles "I agreed with Donkey, I think Ven should be called Venus since she got the looks. Don't you agree -?" he smiles at you.

You're heart rate rise. Why did you just have _goose bumps_? You smile which turns to a shy smile and nods. Your heart won't stop pounding steady… Just, _why_?

Aqu chuckles and nod "See? Even - agrees with me. Come on Ven, just take Venus as a temporary name"

Ven sighs then finally agrees, "Fine…"

"Splendid! Now we got three transformers! Come on transformers, let's head back to the town to transform!" called Donkey, already leaving the barn. Puss follows.

Venus signs and looks at you two, "Well, we had no choice… Let's go guys" she left to follow the two.

You gulp. Now you were _**alone**_ with _Aqu_. You could feel you're palms starting to sweat, your heart beating against your chest and your breath ragged. You just don't understand… Why are you starting to feel weird around Aqu lately?

Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw Aqu started to lean close to you which causes you to freeze and your breath to become more ragged. Are you hyperventilating?

You felt a soft cool pressure on your forehead and open your eyes to see Aqu feeling your forehead with his palm. He looks at you in worry, "-, are you okay? Your face is red…" he states in concern.

Your face reddens.

Aqu frowns at you "Do you have a fever?" You quickly shake your head and smile up at him reassuringly, though your face is still flush. The next thing he do surprises you, Aqu place his hand on your cheek before the other with a frown look on his face.

Your heart rate increases. W-What is he doing?

"You're hot. Are you sure you don't have a fever?" he asks in mild concern.

You smile wildly and shook your head in embarrassment, trying to cool down your face so that he will know that you don't really have a fever.

Aqu frowns but accept it. He grabs your hand and leads you two outside to follow the others "Come on, the others must be waiting"

You realize that despite the both of your changes, he still treats you as he is still the Aqua who first took you to your room and that your still the young girl she was suppose to be taking care of.

Kinda awkward to think about it right…?

* * *

><p>After a far away walk from the forest, you guys finally went back to town and receive a few stares from people, probably shock to see two beautiful foreign girls and one charming young man just enter across their town.<p>

Without wasting much time, Puss immediately found a carriage and uses his cutest 'eyes' to beg the driver to offer you guys a free ride. In a split second, the driver nods with awe look on his face. Puss turns around and gave you guys a wink and a thumb up.

You all then hurried to the carriage.

After a few long minutes of riding across streets to reach the shopping districts, you guys finally made it to the _Rodeo Drive_ again and thank the nice driver who offers you all a free ride.

Since you, Aqu and Venus haven't been here before, Donkey decided to take care of you guys by leading the four of you to a random store to pick some clothes to 'match' their gender. When Donkey found a perfect shop for Aqu and Venus' change of clothes, he excitedly gestures for all of you to come on in before entering inside first. When you guys made in it, Donkey was suddenly kick out from the shop since no animals allowed. And when Puss is next, Puss already gave the 'eyes' which causes the shop manager to sign in awe and allow him to stay in (to Donkey's surprise). Donkey let out a harsh complain to the manager on why he let Puss stay and not him, only to be greeted by a shut door.

He watch in annoyed from the window door as Puss begins to help you guys find new clothes. He turns around and signs in frustrate.

Since he hates to be kept waiting, Donkey decides to go wander around the shops for a while until you guys are done.

Inside the shop, you watch Puss helps Aqu and Venus searching for new clothes for them to wear. You notice that there are a lot of dresses that you've seen women mostly wear on this town (medieval style). In women's clothing section, there are dresses, gowns, chemises, blouses and more while in the men's section, there are tunics, shirts, footwear, vest, capes, cloaks and more.

Aqu's on the right side of the men's section while Venus on the left side of the women's section. You think it's kind of weird watching the two switched gender and rummaging around through the aisle of their now gender. It's kinda funny…and awkward at the same time.

You decided to help Venus first since she seems to be having a bit of trouble on choosing what to wear and Puss is already helping Aqu on the other side since he is a male.

When you approach Venus, you saw her staring at the group of hanging dresses uneasily. She smiles when she saw you, "Hey -," you smile back and nod in greet. She looks back up again and signs.

"I'm not sure about this…"

You look at her and frown. You try to imagine Venus in wearing one of the dresses...

_Venus wearing a long pink dress with long sleeves that matches perfectly her golden long hair, making her looking like a princess…_

Nice

You imagine adding a princess crown on top of her head…

_Now that really makes her look like a princess!_

You smile and cover your mouth, giggling.

Venus frowns at you, "What are you laughing about?"

You top giggling and smiles at her, pointing to the pink dress where you just imagined what would she look like. She looks at it then gasps, "Are you kidding me?" she asks you in disbelief

You giggle again. You love her reaction.

"I'm not wearing _that_!" she exclaims, pointing at the pink dress in panic. You frown. Why not? She looks so pretty in pink. You thought.

Venus frowns at you and shakes her head in apology, "Sorry ===, I just can't _wear _that…" You look at her in curious. Can't wear?

Venus signs, "It's just… I feel too _feminine _already. Sorry"

You frown and nod in understanding. Guilt slowly starting to form its way back to you. Venus turns and smiles at you, "You can help me choose any dress if you want, but please…not _too_ feminine. I don't want to be always stared at" You grin and nod happily. The two of you start searching.

"~"~"~"~"~"

It took the two of you forever to find her the right dress since Venus would always start to judge then reject and then refuse before looking at the other one, only to be rejected again…

So far she doesn't seem to like any of the dresses she looked since the very beginning, and from the look on her face, you can tell she is piss.

It's impossible not to find too feminine dress here when this section is actually for all kinds of women. Maybe 'he' is still not use to being a female after the transformed.

Puss also has the same problem with Aqu since Aqu would always start to complain about how big that clothe is, how tight it fits, how too _manly _it looks for him, how it might get dirty too quick and more… endless complaints.

You and Puss sighs in hopeless as you two continued to watch the two go back and forth, left then right before left again, and then right. Repeat and repeat…

"The two already forgot that we have a main goal to do…" Puss whispers to you, watching the two continuously go around in circle. You nod in agree as you watch them in a sweat drop.

_**After 10 minutes…**_

Puss finally growls in frustrate and stood up from his seat after sitting beside you. You watch him with alert as he stomps forward to the two and exclaims in a Spanish words"_¡Oh por Dios! Vamos a elegir en su lugar! Ustedes dos personas inútiles…" _(Oh my God! We will choose instead! You two useless people…)

Aqu and Venus stare at him in surprise as he drags the two to a seat by his threatening sword before calling you "-! Go find Venus any dress to wear while I go find Aqu! Don't worry about what kind of dress, just _pick_ one." he orders.

You nod and immediately stood up. You saw Venus giving you pleading eyes to remind you not to choose too feminine, you smile at nod at her in reassurance.

You look around for dresses for Venus to wear and suddenly remember that Puss told you to _pick_ one. You stop and look around, studying the dresses. Hmm…Which one should you pick? Venus told you not too feminine so you decided to look for the least too feminine. You choose the Blouses and Chemises section. So far, you think that this section is the least too feminine out of the whole women's section and hope Venus would accept what you chose.

You begin scanning for the best dress when your eyes caught a sight that you thought Venus would at least like…

Puss already decided on what clothes for Aqu to wear that's hanging on his arm and is now searching for a boots, one last thing Aqu will need.

You went to him with your already chosen dress and canvass shoes for Venus and smile with him. He nods in approves of your choice and finally found the boots for Aqu to wear. The two of you went back to the two and shove their dresses for them to wear in the Fitting room. They look down at it in surprise before looking up at you two.

The two of you grin at them to go on and try it…

* * *

><p>After Aqu and Venus already went to the fitting room to try their 'temporarily' clothes out, they paid the clothes and left the shop together with you and Puss.<p>

Now the two also looks like one of the people in the town with their new transformation.

When they first step out of the store, everybody suddenly froze to their tracks, and look _this _way.

The four of you sweat drop.

Where the hell is _Donkey_…?


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone is _staring_…

Aqu and Venus suddenly felt uncomfortably being around on public.

You can see why… Aqu looks really goo~_ charming _on his doublets and it really fits him while Venus looks so pretty in a dress, even though it's just a chemise.

You wonder why those two feel embarrass… They should be proud right?

"_I knew we should have bought cloaks…"_ Venus whispers harshly.

"Come on. Ignore those people… We have Donkey to find." said Puss, leading the way. You saw Aqu and Venus looks hesitant to move since many people are staring, so you decided to grab one of their hands (just like what they did too you before) and smile reassuringly at them. Venus smiles back at you and squeeze your hand and when you turn your head to smile at Aqu, your smile suddenly turns to a _shy _smile. You don't know why, for some reason, you can't look at Aqu straight in the eyes for at least 3 seconds!

You saw Aqu smiles back at you as you three begin to follow Puss.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~

Donkey looks around excitedly from street to street of Rodeo Drive while enjoying his viewing of each dress from one of the shops.

He already forgot that he was suppose to be waiting for you guys to finish but for him, wait was never one of his list to do. So while outside, he eventually got distracted by one of the shops and decided to hang around for awhile.

In short, he's already lost.

Yet, he doesn't care. He still walks around from shops to shops and admires every fashion, design, styles, garments, displays that already caught his attention.

There are shops for swords, armors, jewelries, boots, weapons, foot wears, clothing, and so on but one thing caught his attention… He saw a fancy looking dress that was hanging outside the shop for a display. He headed to that shop and stop. He looks up and admires the dress that was hanging above.

He wants to buy it, but the only problem is he doesn't have any money with him.

Now what?

He looks around. There are only a few people on the streets so maybe they won't notice him. He looks up at the dress again, there's no way his leaving it there! Money or not, he's going to take it. So he took another cautious glance around before quickly jumping up and snatches the fancy looking dress by his mouth.

He hops back down with the dress already on his mouth and grins. Success! He had managed to steal the dress without being caught!

"_Thief!_" someone exclaims, pointing at him.

Donkey's eyes widen and he froze… Oops, maybe not.

Without a second thought, he quickly runs as fast as he can. The person earlier who shouted 'thief' runs inside the store and calls for the manager. The manager angrily appears and looks at him in irritation. The man cries at him that a donkey just stole one of the dresses from outside and pointed at the missing dress to prove his point. The manager looks at it surprisingly before running outside to chase the donkey. The man joins him.

Donkey grits his teeth on the dress tightly as to not let it fall while he was running away.

"Cuse me!" he pushes through a crowded area and pushed some of the people aside. They glared at him.

"Oops, sorry!" he grins at them sheepishly before looking straight ahead.

"Donkey comin' through!" he muffles against the dress, alerting the group of people who were gathering around the area. One of them suddenly falls back to the ground and hits their back while some quickly moves out of the way.

Donkey glares at them like they were stupid "Hey! Don't say I didn't warn ya!" he exclaims at them behind his back and realize that there are two piss off men chasing him, "Oh _darn_!" he curse and quicken his speed by the use of his heels.

Luckily he has four legs or else he's a _dead_ meat!

He then suddenly realizes that he was supposed to be waiting for you guys. He curse,

"Oh _sh_~

* * *

><p>Almost every lady on the streets is flirting with Aqu.<p>

From the first sight they caught of Aqu, they immediately signs in dreamily and look at him like he is a prince. He does. Some women nearly faint when Aqu caught one of their eyes (staring at him)… Aqu was already aware of this and blush, looking down.

There are some girls who are younger than him, smile flirtatious at him that for some reason disturbs you. They caught you giving them a glare and glare back hatefully when they thought that you and Aqu are together. This thought makes you blush. _Stupid girls…_ you thought angrily.

There are some teen boys giving Venus a wolf whistle when she passes by them with you three. This causes her to look annoyed…

Venus caught some of them giving her a wink and wriggling their eyebrows which cause her to grit her teeth in frustration. She gives one of the guys a glare when she saw some of them gave her a flirting smile.

"_Just_ where is Donkey?" she asks frantically, already losing her temper.

"_Chill_ princesa… Donkey might already be heading this way." said Puss, looking around for Donkey. Venus signs in frustrates, "Why did he have to _leave_ us? Is he like mad or something?" she asks in frustrates.

Puss signs in annoyance, "You know Burro, always being the _idiot _he is who always does what he does without thinking twice…" he slaps his forehead in irritation.

"Then let's _leave_ him. Why wasting time on finding someone who leaves you on the first place?" Venus states, clearly not in the mood today.

Puss thinks about it then nods, "I think that's the best idea"

You and Aqu weren't sure about this…

Venus nods and said "Then let's go…" She is about to turn and lead the way when all of the sudden, you all saw Donkey running from across to the four of you. He also had a dress being clutch on his mouth.

The four of you give him a questioning look. When he's almost near you guys, he exclaims "_**Run**_!" and rushes past you guys. You four look totally confuse and look at each other before looking from where Donkey came from. Then you guys already see why…

"_Come on guys_!" he calls from the distance.

The four of you joins him running.

Puss runs in all-four just like Donkey so that he could also speed up. Venus runs while carrying some of the edge of her dress so that she won't trip. She runs pretty fast for someone wearing a dress.

You felt your hand being grab and look right to see Aqu holding you close to him. Your heart rate rise _again_… You can't help but notice how protective he is being to you.

"Get back here you _thief_!" called the man chasing you guys from behind.

Thief…? Did Donkey have stolen something? You wonder.

When you glance towards Donkey, you now understand why the two men are chasing him. He just stole a dress.

You all continued to run until the two men were far behind and out of sight. The five of you manage to hide and catch your breaths on an alleyway café while leaning your backs against walls.

"Wh-What was that all about?" Puss asks, glaring at him while resting his hands on his knees, panting.

Donkey pants to regain his breath back before he comes toward you and gestures for you to take the dress. You take it unsurely. He grins, "That's for you! I think it kinda suits you so I had to go and steal it so you can replace it with your current ones!" he stated.

Aqu, Venus, Puss and you look at him in surprise. You look down at the fancy yellow dress…

Is he _s-serious_? He wants you to wear this dress!

You gave him a disbelief look. "You _stole_ it?" asks Venus in disbelief.

"Yeah, I had to! I have to risk my life stealing that dress so === wouldn't have to wear those uncomfortable tight clothes anymore" he states.

They all look at you. You blush…

You _hate_ being stared.

Venus studies you with a concentration look then nods, "Hmm… you're right. === did need a new clothes. She looks slightly uncomfortable with those" she gestures to your clothes.

Puss nods in agree "Right… We forgot to buy you one. I guess Donkey did the _right_ thing"

Donkey grins, "Haha! So who's the smart one now huh? Me!" he stood up proudly, "I _always_ make the right decision for the _right_ things" he states proudly. Puss rolls his eyes as Venus giggles.

You felt a pressure pressed on your left shoulder and turn to see Aqu smiling down at you, "Why don't you try the dress? I bet you'll look _fancy_ on it" he states, still smiling down at you. You fight back the blush. Why? Oh why Aqu always makes you feel weird like this?

Venus nods, smiling "Yeah === _wear_ it. You look beautiful in it."

You blush. Did she really call you _beautiful_? That was unexpected…

Puss looks worried, "What if they see the dress? Wouldn't that put her into risk?" "Nah… she ain't gonna wear that dress here. She'll be wearing that inside Shrek and Fiona's pa~" "_There you are_!" a voice suddenly exclaims.

You all turn to see one of the men who were chasing you guys at the entrance of the alleyway. The other one must have gave up since you guys were pretty fast runners. This man doesn't seem to give up.

You guys quickly stood up and run on the other side of the alleyway.

"_Hey!_ Don't you dare run away from me!" he shouts, chasing you all. Damn, does this man ever give up?

The people on the café all turn their head to him, startled by his sudden yell. But the angry man doesn't give a fudge, he just keeps chasing you all.

Puss hops on Donkey's back and clutch at it.

"You stupid donkey, you stole that dress by being _seen_! Do you know how much trouble you have caused us now? _Idiota_!" scolds Puss, who is running with Donkey on his side.

Donkey glares at him, "Hey! How was I supposed to know he'd seen me? I was being _careful_ back there!" Puss shots him a glare "Careful? Is this how you _call_ careful? Then_ tell_ me Burro, how were you being careful without being _caught_?"

"I didn't know he was there all along! I thought nobody's watching!"

"You idiot! You _weren't_ being careful!" hiss Puss,

"Why would I?" Donkey raise his brow at him.

You are more scared that any of them, cause now you are carrying the dress that Donkey stolen and is making you even nervous if the man is already choosing you as a target.

It's a good thing you're all fast runners, because right now the man is panting heavily and his speed is turning a bit slow. Nevertheless, you guys keep running faster.

You guys use this as an advantage to call the carriage and quickly get in. Donkey quickly tells the carriage driver to send you all to Fiona's Palace.

"Hurry man! We're already late for dinner!"

The driver quickens the horses' pace by the reins and are now moving faster.

"Stop! The_ thieves _are getting away!" the man chases after you all on the streets while panting. He stops and pants when you guys are far enough from him to reach.

"You'll all _pay_ for this!" he calls out.

Donkey, Puss and Venus laugh while you and Aqu smile. "Haha we did it! That fool thinks he can _catch _us, but he doesn't know who he's messing with!" says Donkey, grinning, "Don't judge the books by its cover" said Puss, licking himself clean. "He looks about to be passing out, isn't he?" states Venus, chuckling.

"I doubt he can reach us anyway, right guys?" grins Venus. The four of you laugh and agree.

You guys were already safe from the chasing mad man.

* * *

><p>The ride to Shrek and Fiona's Palace take quite a long while to reach there. The sun is already at setting, meaning evening is almost here yet still no sign of Terra…<p>

This makes the atmosphere around you guys turn from colorful to gray. The hope of succeed for finding Terra didn't come as planned. Instead, Aqua and Ven had only managed to change to their opposite gender, something not what they had in mind. And you know its all your fault since you misplaced the potions from the beginning. They didn't know yet, that's a good sign though because you don't want them to be mad at you. But you wouldn't just let them not know that you did it, you also plan to change the mistake you've done and redo it, without even letting them know it. You don't want them worry about you, they already have Terra to worry about.

Since you had still keep your guilt, you've planned to drive them out by finding out how to settle things right tonight, to risk for their sakes.

You've notice Aqu and Venus look slightly uncomfortable about being stare at by the folks on the streets while riding on the carriage. You can't blame them… those two are good-looking after all, so it's probably their first time to see them. (You're unaware that their staring at you too)

"_I don't like being stared at…_" Venus mutters, facing down so she could avoid the glazing eyes.

Donkey laughs "They've probably thinkin' '_Oh! Where do they come from? I've never seen them before' 'Are they __**new**__ to this town?' _or '_Is that a princess?' 'Is that a prince?' 'If so, how come I've never seen them…'~ _Ow!" Puss hits him with his elbow and gives him the 'look'.

"Be _proud_ my friends… Getting attention from people have always been my dreams since I was born and somehow you guys managed to get them first." Puss states while studying his nails.

"Y-Yeah… but, don't you think it's _too much_?" Aqu asks, also looking slightly uncomfortable.

Puss laughs "That my dear… It's called _blessings._"Aqu flush.

"Yeah be proud! Who wants to end up looking like a hideous, horrid and unsightly anyways? You guys are _attractive_!" exclaims Donkey, grinning at you three.

"Eh hehehe, _thanks…_" Venus said sarcastically, trying to avoid the people's eyes as possible. Donkey grins, "No problem!"

"So uh… How do we find Terra now?" asks Aqu, looking at you guys unsurely. Venus frowns, her gaze casting down.

"Uh… asks help?" answer Puss, also looking unsurely. You look at them and saw that their mood seems to switch from normal to _depression_. Like they have no plan what to do next… You frown at this, feeling your guilt increase.

Think ===, _think_…

"~"~"~"~"~"~"

The rest of the ride through is silence… Nobody has a word to say or even feel like having a conversation. The silence isn't awkward… it is only a quiet moment, where all of you just view around the streets, stores, houses, people, just to see how they are doing.

You guys finally reach to the Palace's courtyard and notice it contains many towers, fortress, drawbridges, etc. You realize that the Palace is close to the Far Far Away sign and surrounded by mountains and can be reached by a mountain road.

You hop down on the ground and look at the Palace in awe. It _huge_… Too bad it looks impossible to steal.

They paid the driver as you watch and Venus went beside you, also looking up at the castle in awe. "Beautiful isn't it?" she asks you, smiling sadly. You smile back and nod.

"Come on guys, we should start eating dinner. Cause _damn! _I'm hungry!" says Donkey, already leading the way. Puss follows by walking "Come on chicos. We hate leaving him hungry, he'll only get _worse_" he said to you three.

You three followed.

"Hey! I heard that!" scolds Donkey, reaching for the door. Before he can open it, the door suddenly opens by itself, revealing a familiar man where Donkey swears he saw him before.

The man grins, "Thanks for the dinner!" he called before he walks past by him, still grinning like an idiot.

You, Venus, Aqu and Puss look at him in raise brow as he smiles and waves at you four while walking past by.

Wasn't he the guy who gave you all a free ride?

When he's gone, you guys continue to head to the Palace's main door.

''~"~"~"~"~"~"~"

When you guys made it inside, you were all greeted by a surprise Pinocchio, Gingy, Wolf and the three pigs from the main hall.

Their eyes widen and jaw drops.

Wolf wipes his eyes viciously before blinking and look at the three of you again, "What the~?"

"Guys, I would like you to meet, Aqu" Donkey gestures to an uncomfortable Aqu, "Venus" he nods his head at Venus who looks down at the ground grumpily "And the grown-up ===!" he runs to you to gesture your appearance and grins at the six.

Their mouth still gapes.

They were about to say something when Shrek and Fiona appear, "Donkey! Who says you can invite someone over for a free dinner without telling~ _huh_?" Shrek suddenly froze when he saw you three. Fiona also froze still, looking at you, Aqu and Venus wide-eyed.

Donkey runs to Shrek and exclaims "Shrek! When is dinner? We're already _hungry_ man! We haven't eaten any lunch since the time~"

"Who are _they_?" Shrek whispers to him harshly while eyeing you three like you guys are a complete strangers.

Donkey gives him a disbelief look before looking at you three, then at him again "WHAT? Don't tell me you don't recognize Aqu, Venus, and ===." Shrek gives him a surprising look before looking and studying you three.

"Aqu, Venus and -…?" he ask, confuse.

"What happened to you guys?" ask Fiona, heading over to study the three of you. "Long story short, we decided that the best way to search for Terra is to head over to the Potion Factory and seek a potion that might help us find Terra…" explained Puss.

"And let me guess… You guys get the wrong potion?" ask Shrek in amuse. Aqu and Venus instantly blush.

"Uh,y-yeah…hehe. We did" said Aqu, rubbing his head in embarrass. "Actually, Merlin gave us the wrong potion" explains Venus. You stood there awkwardly. You've never felt glad that you're mute, for once.

Pinocchio, Gingy, Wolf and the three pigs gasp. "You guys _drank_ the wrong potion?" ask Gingy in disbelief. "Oh my, that is unbelievable!", "Ya, totally unbelievable!", "Ya!"

Wolf and Pinocchio laugh in fully amuse, "Oh boy! That was unexpected! I thought you guys just had a _makeover_ when you came here!" exclaims Pinocchio. Wolf wipes his tear from his eyes before snorting "Me too! I actually almost fell for it!"

The three of you sweat drop.

Wolf then approaches and smiles flirtatious at you three, "And by the way…Looking _good _guys" he compliments, giving you three a wolfish grin while wriggling his eye brows.

You three give him a wry look.

"What's that dress?" ask Pinocchio, pointing at the yellow dress your holding. You look down, almost forgot it was there.

Donkey grins, "Oh! I almost forgot!" he runs into you and gestures to the dress, "This is the dress I bought~" "_Stole_" Puss interrupts, "from one of the Rodeo shops so that === could replace it with her tight clothes"

They all look at you. Oh _boy_, you'll gonna have to get use to being stared…

Silence…

This is _awkward_.

"Yes! Let her _wear_ that! I wanna see her also wearing a dress just like Venus!" exclaims Pinocchio. Venus gives him a glare. The three pigs agree, "Ya! Me too!", "Me two!", "And me three!"

Gingy hops on the shoulder of Wolf and called, waving his hand, "And I'm four!"

Venus turns and smiles at you, nodding, "Yeah ===, why don't you wear it? So that I won't feel ridiculous wearing a dress alone" she chuckles. You smile at her, but you're not sure if you want to. Aqu also turns to you and smiles, "Come on ===, wear it. So that it would be fair for the two of us" he gestures to Venus and himself.

Fair? Would you wear that dress just to be fair?

Fiona nods (_what the~?_) "I'll show you where to change," she smiles "Just follow me"

B-but you didn't even say yes!

Donkey grins and jumps in joy, "Oh yes! Finally going to see === wearing that dress!" he exclaims happily. He turns to Fiona, "Hey Fiona, when is dinner?" Fiona smiles at him, "Dinner is already about to start. Aqu, Venus, please make yourselves at home…"

Aqu and Venus smile and nod at her, "Thanks…" "Thank you"

Oh boy… Today was just your unlucky day.

* * *

><p>After following Fiona upstairs to the first floor and inside of one of the guest rooms, she left you in to change while waiting patiently outside for you to finish.<p>

You step into the dining room with Fiona very hesitantly and look down with a tomato face. You were force to wear that _damn dress _that everyone is urging you about. When they see you appearing, they all went silent.

Everyone looks at you in awe… You saw Venus turns and almost choke on her drink. You look like you_ own_ the dress. You even look so princess-like wearing that dress.

You swear you thought you see Aqu blush, or maybe it was just your imagination.

"===, is that _you_?" asks Pinocchio from across in shock.

You blush harder and look down.

"Of course that's _her_! I mean_ hello_? Who else would she be?" exclaims Gingy, waving around his spoon from the table.

"_Damn_! You look smoking!" Donkey exclaims, looking at you like you are a goddess. Puss from beside him, stare at you with wide eyes and awe. "You look good." said Shrek, smiling approvingly at you, you awkwardly smile back. Fiona giggles, "Yeah she is…I think she looks more fabulous in a dress than wearing clothes."

Venus stood up from her sit beside Aqu and approaches you with a grin, "Come sit with us ===. Today Shrek said we'll be having a _roasted turkey _as one of the dinner tonight! You like roasted turkey right?"

Roasted turkey! Alright! You smile at her and nod. She holds your hand and leads you both to where she and Aqu sit.

Did Aqu just _tensed up _at his seat?

Venus sits you beside Aqu who's on your right then sits down on your left, making you sit right in between them.

"I'm _hungry_!" Donkey whines, "Why aren't there any _food _on the table yet?" he complains.

Shrek and Fiona give him an annoying look.

"Come on guys! Bring _in_ the food!" exclaims Donkey. He then looks at the kitchen door angrily, "Hey waiters! What's taking so long!"

Shrek place his hand on his head, "Oh boy…" he sighs.

Fiona glares at him, "Why don't you wai~" she was suddenly interrupted by a slamming door open of the kitchen and all of you turn to see chefs did a pose, looking upwards while holding a tray while some are holding a plates.

"_Dinner _is served…"


	8. Chapter 8

"_Dinner _is served…" the French man who's in the middle said before bowing. The chefs on both of his side begin to serve.

Donkey smiles widely as he watches the chefs moved around and place each plates and tray on the table. A chef places a _large_ tray of roasted turkey at the center which is right across from you. The smell is so overwhelming… You can't wait to taste the turkey.

The only food you're focusing right now is the roasted turkey, not caring for the rest of the meals that were being placed on the rest of the other side. The rest of the meals are sizzling beef steak, chicken, ham, fish, salads, and some vegetables.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to try all of these!" Pinocchio exclaims, looking at all the meals excitingly.

"Then what are we _waiting_ for? Let's dig in!" called Donkey, already about to grab the chicken but is stop by Puss who hits him, hard. "Ow!" he glares at Puss, "What is that for?" Puss hiss at him, "Why don't you _wait_ for the chefs to _finish_?" he gestures to the chefs. Donkey looks at them… the chefs are now placing foods of plate in front of each of you.

Donkey looks back at Puss, "So what? It's not like they'll_ join _us" he states.

All of the utensils were already displayed and set in front of all of you, ready to be use. When all of the chefs are already setting plates on each of you, they left back into the kitchen.

"_Bon Appétit__…"_said the French man from earlier and bow his head again before leaving.

"Well, let's dig in." said Shrek while clapping at the same time, smiling at all of you.

"That's what I _said_ earlier...!" Donkey retorts before hurriedly place his head down on his plate and begin munching.

You all look at him weirdly. He is making a mess…

Puss slaps his head, "Ugh… Now my appetite has ruin" he mutters. "Woah Donkey, _slow down_… We have a _guests_ here _remember_?" said Shrek, gesturing to Venus, you, and Aqu.

Venus laughs sheepishly, shaking her head, "N-No hehe, its fine…_really_. We don't mind, right guys?" she asks, looking at you and Aqu for reply. The two of you smile unsurely and nod.

Donkey grins at you three, "Eat up guys! Don't wanna go start finding Terra with an empty stomach, do we?" The three of you cringe in disgust when you guys see him talking with his mouth full. Kinda ruins the appetite.

Gingy from across him cringe in disgust then throws a spoon at him, which manage to hit his shoulder, "Ew! Ever heard about '_don't talk when your mouth is full_'?" he scolds, "Yeah, have some manners…" Wolf agrees, who is sitting beside him.

Donkey glares at them "Maybe _you_ guys need to start eating instead of watching!" he argues back before stuffing his face once again on the plate.

Gingy groans in frustrate as Wolf rolls his eyes.

"Uh… Shall we begin?" ask Fiona awkwardly, seeing all of you haven't started eating yet (except for Donkey)

All of you start grabbing your spoons and forks, some use knives first instead of forks and begin to eat on your plates.

"Man, I'm _thirsty_! Where's the water?" asks Donkey, looking around to search for water. "It's on your _left_, Donkey" states Shrek, who looks tired. Donkey looks left then smiles, "_Oh_… How come I didn't see you there…"

When he was about to reach to grab the glass of water, all of you realize something,

"_No!_" one of them yelled.

Donkey froze, and looks around weirdly "What?" he arch a brow.

Shrek and Fiona laughs sheepishly and sighs in relief. "Here," Shrek offers him his plate of water (use for washing hands) next to him, "Use this instead" Donkey smiles, "Oh,_ thanks _Shrek! That was so _sweet_ of you" tease Donkey.

Shrek rolls his eyes "Just shut up and _drink_ it."

Donkey then licks the water from the plate thirstily, causing some water to spill down the table, which annoys Puss because some of the spilt water reached his plate. He angrily grabs his plate and pushes it far away from Donkey's side so that he could eat in peace.

"Who wants some turkey?" announce Shrek, smiling at you all. All of you raise your hands.

"Me!" "I do!" "ME!" "Me! Me!" Pinocchio, Gingy, Wolf and Donkey call at the same time while the rest of you are silent.

Shrek and Fiona look at each other wryly before at you all. "O…kay then. Who wants to _cut _the turkey?" Shrek asks. Donkey immediately raises his paw before anyone could, "I _do_!"

Shrek ignores him "Anyone?" he raise his brow at you all.

"I do Shrek! _Pick _me!"

When none of you raises your hands, Shrek looks slightly panicked.

"Shrek, I'd be _happy_ to volunteer! Just allow me t~" Shrek cuts him off, "Pigs?" he looks at the pigs expectedly. The three pigs look at him in apology, "Sorry Shrek, we cannot use the knife with our dewclaws" one of the pigs said, gesturing to his pasterns, "Ya, sorry" "Ya sorry Shrek".

"Shrek! I _know_ how to use th~"

"Gingy?" Shrek looks at Gingy with hope in his eyes.

Gingy frowns at him "Sorry Shrek! I don't have any fingers since I'm a gingerbread you know…" Shrek looks embarrass, "Oh. Heh, right…"

"Why can't you _choose_ me Shrek? I've told you that I wo~"

"Wolf?" Shrek looks at Wolf with pleading eyes

"I also don't have any fingers…" he states, showing his pasterns.

Shrek looks at Pinocchio desperately, "Pinocchio?" Pinocchio shakes his head, "I don't know _how_ to handle a knife"

"Puss?" he asks Puss in a begging tone. "I'm sorry my friend, I don't think my paws would do for knives…" he states, showing off his paws.

"Shreek…! I'm over here…!" Donkey jumps on his chair to get Shrek's attention.

Shrek sighs in annoyance, "No you _can't_ Donkey. You can't use your _pasterns _to use the knife!" Donkey looks at his pasterns and frowns, "Oh…"

Venus suddenly raises her arm. All of you turn to look at her. Shrek grins, "Oh, Venus. Glad you'd offer to help!" he said in surprise.

Venus chuckles and shakes her head, "Oh no, sorry! I meant," she points at Aqu who jumps in surprise "Let _Aqu_ do it." Aqu looks at her in shock and disbelief, "W~What?" his eyes wide. He quickly shakes his head in disagree, "_No_! Hehehe. No way…" He looks at everyone in apology, "Sorry guys… I might screw up."

Venus narrows her eyes at him, "Aw come on Aqu… Why don't you slice the turkey for us? I you're your good." she looks at you with a smile, "And === can't wait to taste it, right ===?" You smile and nod curtly. True, but you don't want to force Aqu, he looks hesitant.

"Yeah Aqu, please?" pleads Gingy at him. "Ya Aqu! No one here knows how to slice and dice the turkey but you!" "Ya! No one here but you!" "Ya! No one!" said the three pigs.

"Please Aqu? Do it for us? We never tried slicing a turkey before…" Fiona giggles then laughs along with Shrek. "Yeah… We only know how to use our _hands_" Shrek states while laughing with Fiona.

Venus grins at Aqu, "Come on Aqu! We don't want the turkey to turn cold do we? Hehe" Aqu signs "Fine…" Everybody cheered.

Aqu stand up and reach for the fork and knife then begins slicing the turkey. All of you watch him in awe and admire how he slices the turkey like an expert and with experience. "Wow… You're really _good_" said Pinocchio in awe "Ya, really", "Ya" "Really".

Aqu smiles, "Thanks… This is my first time though."

All of your jaws drop.

"You got to be kidding me…" said Puss. "Are you serious? I thought Venus had said that you're already good" states Donkey in disbelief. Aqu narrows his eyes at Venus, "_That's_ what she said…" Venus laughs sheepishly, "I uh, already _knew_ he was good."

You watch as Aqu gives each of them a piece of turkey and thank him before happily devouring their meal. You heard Puss said "That was excelente" before eating his plate. After Aqu gave them their piece of turkey, he slowly turns to you and quickly takes your plate, then adds a large piece of turkey on it.

You remember the time when he was Aqua and she first introduced to you the roasted turkey. It was a delicious experience.

"Here you g~

Aqu suddenly accidentally drops your glass of water when he placed your plate down. The water from the glass spill all over the edge of the table and almost hit your dress.

Everyone gasp while your eyes widen in surprise.

Aqu's eyes' widen and looks at you apologetically with a blush, "I'm sorry!" he exclaims before quickly kneeling down to clean up his mistakes.

"No no no! It's fine…" Fiona laughs sheepishly, "Let our maids take care of them. J-Just enjoy your meals… Don't worry about it!" reassured Fiona.

Aqu slowly stood up and looks embarrass. He looks down at you with a sorry smile, "I'm really sorry ===…" You smile at him to tell him that it's okay. He sits back in his seat beside you and continues eating awkwardly.

Venus laughs awkwardly, "Sorry about my friend… hehehe. She~ I mean_ he _usually done this before…" You saw Aqu giving Venus a look.

"Oh, it's _fine_. Nothing to be embarrass about… _Accidents_ do happen, right Fiona?" Shrek states while waving his hands in reassurance, laughing. Fiona laughs and nods, "Yeah. Don't mind it. Just enjoy the dinner, you're our guests after all…" she states, smiling.

Aqu and Venus smile at her then nod. "Thank you" Venus said gracefully. "Thanks…" Aqu mumbles, still feeling embarrass.

You thought it's cute to see Aqu blushing.

* * *

><p>The rest of the dinner was a little bit awkward… Sometimes Aqu would accidentally drink the glass of water to his nose instead of his mouth, bump his spoon to his cheek, slice the plate instead of the turkey, and would accidentally stab his finger when he thought it was a steak then yelps, causing everybody to look at him, and causing him to blush.<p>

You and Venus often look at him weirdly and sometimes asks if his okay. His response would always be an awkward laugh and a nod. Both of you look at him funny before resume back to eating.

Aqu's been acting strange lately…

After dinner, Fiona offered to escort you guys you're guestrooms, and to your luck, each of you got your own bedroom.

You notice that Venus mood seems to go down. You can see it from her eyes, the sadness and worry that had been lingered there ever since the dinner incidence. You now felt very terrible…

You are now on your guest bedroom, trying to think of a way on how to fix your mistakes because you can't tolerate anymore of Venus' depression mood. You are having a very hard time to come up with a plan since you are scared to get caught missing or don't want to be thought as escaping.

You frown. It's hard to concentrate when this guilt is overtaking you and only making you feel worse. You plop down on the bed feeling already frustrated when you still got no any ideas what to do. You sign in depress, you feel so guilty…

You jump when you heard a sudden knock coming from the door.

"===? May I come in?" it's Aqu.

You would love to answer yes but you have no voice. So you stood and went to the door. When you open the door, your heart rate _unintentionally_ rises.

Why the sudden nervous?

Maybe you can't help but think that Aqu is attractive, it's okay right? But why your heart _beats_ faster all of the sudden?

You let him in before closing the door. You stand and watch him went to sit down on your bed before looking down.

Why are you feeling nervous?

You hesitantly went to sit down next to him and look at him expectedly. You wonder what he wants to say or why he came here.

"===…" he begins, slowly looking at you.

You look at him in wonder. What's he's gonna say?

"Tonight I'll be going to look for Terra by myself and see if I can find him so that you and Venus won't have to get tired all the way…"

So he's going to search for Terra the whole night? Is he… _sacrificing_, for you and Venus?

"I might stay up until late, but I promise, I'll do what I can to find Terra for the three of us…" you froze when he started petting your hair.

This is…_awkward_. Hehe, just _look _at yourselves…

"Don't worry, Venus is with you. She'll also stay here with you," you _tense up _when he cup your cheek

What th~

"Just stay here and rest. Tomorrow, the three of us will search for Terra in case if I don't find him tonight."

You nod curtly. Feeling slightly uncomfortable when his hand is still cupping your cheek… Aqu smiles, before ruffling your hair gently.

"Good…" he stood up before leaning down to k-k-_kiss_your forehead…

You tense up at the feeling of your forehead before blushing madly. What is wrong with him? Can't he sense that you're feeling uncomfortable with the male Aqua?

You smile up at him anyway as he smiles back.

"Goodnight. Wish me luck! Hope I can find Terra tonight so that we won't have to get worry for the next day" he called, waving as he went to the door.

You nod in agree and wave back as you watch him left. Then suddenly, you realize something…

If he'll find Terra tonight, will he recognize _him_?

* * *

><p>After some few hours of thinking what to do to made up your mistakes, you finally got a plan.<p>

Right now you're trying to make a fake sleeping person of you in your bed by placing some pillows under the bed so they look somewhat like a body. You place a sheet over it then observe… Not bad, not bad at a~

Then there was a sudden knock. You jump, again.

"===?" it's Venus.

Oh shi~_rek_...

Oh uh, if she sees _this_, you might look suspicious. So you quickly rearrange to sheets and the pillows to make it look like you're lying down.

The door opens cautiously as you quickly sit down. Venus smiles when she sees you

"Hey…" she greeted you. You smile back and nod at her in greet. She closes the door before heading your way. She sits down on the bed beside you and then smiles at you again. You smile back, wondering what she likes to say.

"Sorry to be disturbing you… I… I just wanted to ask if," she looks down, seeming to be having trouble trying to form the words she's trying to say. You look at her curious. What is she trying to say?

She looks at you straight in the eyes and said "===, are you mad at us earlier for not letting you drink the potion with us?" she asks calmly but with seriousness.

Your eyes widen.

Oh ship!

H-How did she know? You're dead.

"I just thought that maybe that's the caused on why me and Aqua had transformed like this…" she gestures to her feminine form. You gulp. You are now nervous and could feel your palms starting to sweat.

This guilt is increasing again. '_I'm sorry Ven…'_ you thought sadly. Should she/he know the truth?

No. You plan on fixing this tonight. There's no need for her/him to know. So you shake your head at her/him slowly while felt yourself growing weak inside. You hate lying to your friends…. You remember she/he said that he trust you.

Venus frowns at you then touches your hand. You look up at her sadly, Venus smiles at you "It's okay…I'm not mad. I was just wondering," she squeezes your hand reassuringly,

"Don't worry… I already understand. It's okay if you just tell me the truth…" she looks down, "I didn't realize how much we hurt you. If so, then we're really sorry… We're really sorry for not letting you drank the potion" she looks at you again.

"It's just…we don't want anything bad to happen to you. Because it's our job to look after and protect you" Another guilt increase. "We know that you also wanted to help us find Terra…she looks at you apologetically,

"But…we don't want you to also risk your life… And besides, what will Master Eraqus think?"

You frown and look down. You could barely handle your heavy weight guilt and feel like you could collapse anytime and cry, begging for forgiveness. You felt shattered…

But wait… It was an _accident _right?

You never meant to misplace the potions and never were mad at the first place… You were only hurt when they didn't let you and just accidentally misplace the potion without meaning too.

Venus could felt you're inside screaming in pain and guiltiness so she/he quickly hugs you (to your surprise) and soothes your back by rubbing it up and down.

You felt her smile behind you, "I actually don't mind…" she said, chuckling to lighten up the tension. You were surprise at this. He doesn't…mind? He doesn't mind being a _she_?

"At least I get to have an experience…"

You blush madly.

Did…Did she/he _really_ just said that?

"…To know what it feels like being a girl" she/he finish. Oh. You sign in relief. You thought it was something else…

She/he releases you and smiles. "According to Merlin, I may last like this until tomorrow sunset. Or maybe… tomorrow night, I'm not sure for as long as I know, tomorrow I'll return back to my normal self."

You smile, happy to at least see the positive side of her/him even though you guys haven't found Terra yet.

"And I'll no longer have to be wearing a dress anymore! And no longer have to be called _Venus_" she/he grins, chuckling slightly.

"I'll finally be back to my old self again. But you…I like you to stay the same. I kinda prefer you being the new you. You know? Us being the same age?" she/he smiles at you.

You can almost see Ven instead of Venus talking to you. To Venus, you felt Ven is really there…but to Aqu, you felt like you're with a different person just slight a bit. You don't know why, but every time when you're near Aqu, even though he's really Aqua, you felt uneasy and slightly nervous.

"Too bad it's only temporary…" she/he looks down. You frown at her/him. She/he looks at you, "If anything, I'll do everything I can just to let you stay like _this_…"

Why is your heart suddenly beating at an abnormal rate?

She/he touch your cheek, you tense up. Why is she/he looking at you like this?

She/he continues to stare at you silently, which makes you feel uncomfortable… You look like you are being paralyzed while being stared by Venus.

Awkward...!

After what seems like forever, (for you) though it's only 3 seconds, you tense up when Venus suddenly grab the both of your shoulders

_What is she/he d-doing?_

and lays you down on the bed. You look up as she/he looks down at you, hands still clutch to your shoulders. Why did you have this feeling that something 'weird' is about to happen?

Your face grows mad red when you saw her/him slowly leaning down to your face. You're positive that your heart is beating against your chest wildly and could almost hear the pumping sounds of your beating heart.

You had no idea what she's/he's about to do to you, but seeing her/his face getting close to yours, your face instantly turns red.

When she's/he's very _close_, you clenched your eyes shut and ready to face the incoming… until, you felt a light pressure on your forehead. You peek open your eyes to see Venus smiling down at you.

"Time for you to _sleep_… Tomorrow we'll start off early to go search for Terra around the town so that we can finish all these off quickly." You smile and nod.

"You know what they say, 'The early to bed, the early to rise'. So best start sleeping early so that early we'll be able to get up early" she/he grins.

You laugh. You like how she/he repeats the same word.

"Goodnight!" she/he grins and waves at you before leaving. You wave back at her/him and watch him leave.

When she's/he's gone, you jolt up and quickly begin to make a fake sleeping form of you.

You can't just let Aqu do the sacrifice, let Venus stay worried sick about Terra and let yourself remain guilty.

No…You plan to fix your mistakes. You plan to help your friends.

You don't want to be treated like a princess by those two. You also want to be part of them as _friends_…

So you move faster and hope later on you won't get caught.

* * *

><p>You manage to sneak out of the Palace without getting caught. There's no one who seems to be guarding inside the place. You can't even find Puss, Pinocchio, Gingy, Wolf, Donkey and the three pigs. Perhaps they're outside the town? Venus might already be sleeping while Shrek and Fiona are probably inside their rooms.<p>

The only problem is… there are guards guarding the gate, which makes it harder for you to sneak out.

You inwardly groan. Now _what_?

The gate is the only way to lead to the town but there are two guards standing there. You need to at least form a distraction…but how?

You are now crouching at the staircase in hopes that the guards can't see you and trying to find a way to lure those two out of the entrance's way.

Wait a sec… Is that a horse?

You found a horse staying inside the stable all by itself. You look at the entrance, then the horse, then the entrance, and then back at the horse again.

An idea hit you.

While the guards' back are facing you, you sneakily rush down steps until you reach the ground and went to the horse's stable that was just on the left side of the courtyard.

Once you reach the stable, you pick up a medium-size stone and threw it on the opposite side to create a noise. The two guards snap their heads left to see where that comes from as you quickly hide on the corner to avoid being seen.

You see them talking for while, probably being curious to where that noise comes from, before starting to head towards that direction where you threw the stone.

You use that to your advantage to hurriedly release the horse from the stable and then bring him out. You're not sure how to ride the horse, but when at desperate time like these, you had to do what you got to do. You quickly pet him to show him that you meant no harm and are friendly, not wanting to cause any signs of trouble.

The horse was already saddled and bridled, so you mount on the horse and adjust your position so that you are now straddling the horse.

How do you _ride_ the horse?

You quickly look to your left and see the two guards are investigating the area where the noise was coming from, their backs on you. If they turn, they'll see you. And you don't like it.

You tried to remember how the driver from the carriage handled the horses earlier and see if maybe you can imitate. So you hold both reins in both hands (you're not sure if it's right) and tug on the lead rope. And to your surprise, the horse rears and makes a neighing sound which caused the two guards from the other side to snap their heads at your direction, and begin to bolts straight to the entrance. You grip on the rope to prevent you from falling.

"Hey!" called one of the guards. The two of them running to chase the both of you, but thankfully the horse is fast, they can't reach you.

The horse leads you both out of the Palace, where some guards outside were surprise to see you on the horse, and quickly make your way to the town.

Surprise to see how well you can already handle a horse…

"~"~"~"~"~"~"

You are now on the town, still riding on the horse that's no longer running, just walking steadily. Through your way here, you had managed to stop the horse from running surprisingly by pulling the rein. You also learned how to turn the horse from left to right, by simply using the left hand to pull back gently the left rein to move the horse to the left, same goes with the right.

To turn around, just apply pressure on the horse's side by your foot while at the same time, use your reins as a cue.

To walk, just squeeze both legs against the side of the horse. And when it responds, relax the pressure on your legs and move your hands forward slightly to prevent the horse from suffocating (or so you've thought…)

You're receiving a few strange looks from people on the way. Probably thinking, what's a girl like you riding a horse at this time of the night? Or maybe, why are you out by yourself? Where are your companions?

You just ignore them and ride straight to the town, planning on reaching to the forest where Puss showed you guys earlier. You were planning to go straight to the Potion Factory to get the 'sight jack' potion. You won't let those people bother you to stop you on what you're about to do.

While on the way, you're also looking for any signs of Terra, hoping that you'll encounter him instead, so that the rest on the way to the forest won't be a huge amount of wasting time.

The Potion Factory may be far away, but you can reach there soon as long as you are riding a horse. It may take some time to reach there, but it is worth it because you're doing it for the sake of your friends and to pay off for what you unintentionally did.

This town is so big enough that it may take a long while to search for Terra. But what if his already in here…? Or, what if his lost somewhere in the woods from the first place where Ven and you appeared from?

That thought makes you worried so you tug on the rope on the horse's neck and bolts straight to the forest.

The people who are around you watch in awe at how a young beauty like you can handle a horse like that… Such an amazing sight!

The way to the forest didn't take quite long and you were glad because from what you can remember, last time it took like 30+minutes for you, Aqua, Ven, Puss, and Donkey to reached here by feet, and this time, with you and the horse, it only took you 3 minutes. You are proud of that.

Without wasting much time, you begin to head straight to the Potion Factory and hope you would break another time record. From 1 hour to at least 20 minutes.

You let the horse moves in a fast pace instead of running. It's kinda dark and you want to see your surroundings clearly so that the both of you won't get lost… Better safe than sorry.

The forest looks quite eerie at night. Not that you're scared or anything, it just… the more you move forward the quieter it gets, which makes the place even creepier.

_**After 19 minutes…**_

You didn't make it to the Potion Factory yet, but you're reaching there…almost.

You wonder… Does the horse ever get _tired_?

It's been like at least 40 minutes since you've both ran out of the Palace. You look at the horse and admire how much strength and energy he acquired. You need those too.

You wonder where Aqu is… Is he still finding Terra or did he already found him?

Half of you wish he did while the other half wish he didn't. It will be a waste of effort if you came all the way here to retrieve the right potion and come back later, just to see that Aqu already found Terra.

But for Aqu and Venus' sake, you wouldn't mind at all…

You felt a light tingling sensation on your arm and look down, curious. Where did that came from?

You raise it up to examine it closer. You narrow your eyes.

Water…?

You look up. Is that where it came from?

You saw that even the horse got wet. You felt another cooling tingling sensation on both of your arms this time. You look up at the sky and saw tiny droplets of water making it way down on you both. You look around and also observe that the tiny droplets fell down on the ground.

Well…It's only a light rain. You two can handle it. Not even a light rain can stop you.

Suddenly, a rapid thunder bolt appears through the air then strikes to the ground, making you and the horse yelp and jump in surprise.

You and the horse stared wide-eyes at the sudden appearance. That lightning _just_ appeared a few meters away from across the both of you! You nearly had a _heart attack_, maybe the horse too.

The two of you still froze there… too shock to move after the shocking encounter.

You two suddenly snap out of it when a heavy pour of rain hits the both of you, making you two already soaking wet.

Oh ship…

Before you could tug the rope, the horse quickly leads you both somewhere you don't even know as the heavy rain keeps pouring down heavily at you two.

You let him lead… Maybe he knows this forest more than you do. You've only been here once when Puss offered to show you guys the Potion Factory. You trust the horse anyway.

You just grip into him and watch where he's leading you two. He's running so _fast… _making it harder for you to keep your balance.

"~"~"~"~"~"~"

After a few minutes of the horse taking you to an unknown destination, you notice that you were both heading towards a tavern.

_Oh _you thought.

He's taking you two to a shelter…

Good idea, you thought. You two can wait here until the rain stops.

There's a stable just on the other side next to tavern. There are also a few horses staying there that await their owner to come back and retrieve them.

The horse hurriedly takes you both to the stable and makes a neigh sound to get off him. Since you can't read his mind, you just sat there.

The horse grew annoyed and make another neigh sounds for you to get off him now. But you still sit there, expecting him to do something first. The horse makes a grunt noise before bucking in annoyance to get you out and succeed when you fell to his side and hit your bum.

You glare up at him as he glares at you back.

Now you look like a mess thanks to that horse! You slowly stood up which causes the horse to grow more annoyed and still give him a glare. He neighs angrily at you to open the stall door of the stable with a gesture of his head.

You look at him in confuse.

What is he trying to say?

The horse gives you the '**eyes**' and angrily rears and make a loud neighing sound in frustration before tapping his heels loudly at the stall door. You look at it, wondering what is he's problem…

Until you realize that there are horses being placed inside the stalls. Oh…Now you get it. The horse wants you to place him inside the stall so that he'll have a shelter. You saw that the horse looks very wet and frustrated as he is looking at you impatiently.

You quickly open the stall for him and the horse immediately runs straight to it then shakes wildly to dry himself.

You decided to join him in so that you could have a shelter too. But as soon as you came in, the horse push you back by its head and gave you a weird look. You give him a weird look back.

The horse quickly closes the stall door by itself and nods his head at the tavern. You look at the tavern hesitantly. You don't really want to go there with you looking like this… It's embarrassing.

You give the horse a pleading look to stay with him but he only glares at you and nods his head angrily at the tavern again. You sign in defeat. It's useless… The horse won't really let you stay with him.

You gave the horse a hateful betrayal look before grudgingly turn and run to the tavern since the rain is pouring down so hard.

When you open the door, you look really like a _mess_.

The dress you are wearing is all soak and wet, hugging your wet skin almost tightly. And you look like you are having a bad hair day.

_Almost_ everyone is staring at you. You blush and look down, suddenly regretting on entering here…

_Stupid horse... _You thought angrily.

You decided to just pass by them and find an empty seat to get this over with. You're only here for a shelter until the heavy rain stops.

As you walk by, there are some few men wolf whistling at you and give you cat calls which irritates you. You notice that this place contains of lots of men more than women since you saw that there are many drunken men doing some crazy things like breaking stuff, sing and dance like there's no tomorrow, drinking wildly, some are just drinking and playing card games.

You don't like this place… But you had no choice.

You manage to find an empty seat at the bar which is at the farthest left and thought it is the only safest seat to avoid being bothered by the people here.

"~"~"~"~"~"~"

"Soooo _Terra_!" started Prince Charming, who is already sober while holding a pub of beer, "Tell us," he sling an arm over Terra's shoulder, and drink his pub first before continuing, "How come this is your _first time _drinking?" he asks in disbelief. The men around him nod in agree "Yeah Terra, tell us" "Yeah teelll us!"

Terra, who's already drunk and sitting on a chair with a group of sober and drunken men, grins at him before taking a sip of his beer,

Captain Hook starts singing a song called 'The Pub with No Beer' on the piano

"My _Master_ alwaaays make suure that I've been a _good_ 'boy' as hiis '_student_' soo that it won't ruuin his 'moraal'…" he slurred while sipping another drink on his pub.

Prince Charming and the men laugh wildly.

"Oh Terra, Terra, Terra…" Prince Charming shakes his head in shame then slaps his palm on Terra's shoulder, "You still being a _master's boy_?" the men laugh loudly "You are a _grown up_!" he emphasis grown up as he gestures his hands to Terra's form, "Yeah!" "Grown up!" laughs the men.

"You are a _man_!" exclaims Prince Charming, moving around Terra "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "You're a man!" agreed the drunken men, some of them made cheers with their pub.

Terra smiles widely and nod, "_Yeaah! _I'm the man…" he drinks again. Prince Charming smirks,

"A _real_ man is never a slave to anyone!" he gestures to himself first before pointing at the rest of the men who cheers at Terra. Terra smiles and cheers at them back with his pub before sipping it.

"A _true_ man has _no fears _of doing anything what he wants…" Prince Charming starts punching one of the men in the face who falls down on the ground which causes the rest to laugh wildly. Prince Charming grins and stood up straight, shaking his fist to ease the pain.

"Real man knows how well to handle themselves…" Prince Charming grabs a random drunk guy who's near him and then pushes him hard who fell on his back on one of the tables filled with beers and glass, and used by some men and women.

Some drunken men laugh at how pathetic he looks. Prince Charming grins and then turns to Terra and points at him, "Now_ you _try…"

Terra grins and then nod, before slowly standing up. Now men watch him with excitement and interest to see who he's going to pick as his target.

Terra went to a group of men who are on the table and slam his hand down to get their attention. The men all look at him with a raise eyebrow. "Yeah? What do ya want?" ask one man from the table. Terra smiles at him then the rest of the men,

"I challenge you to a drinking contest…"

''~"~"~"~"

There's a loud racket going on at the center of the tavern area. You turn around to see many men and few women forming around in circles, cheering wildly and loudly over at someone or somebody you can't see since they are blocking the way.

You just shake your head and turn back to watch the small TV set that is hanging on the wall. Nothing really interesting… You just need to find something to do while waiting for the rain to stop.

"_That's it _Terra! You can do it! You're the man!" cheers Prince Charming with his fists clench. He is standing with the rest of his group at the middle who also cheer for Terra. Watching Terra, who's sitting across a tough-looking man, gulping down his beer in a drunken-state with the man he chose to challenge with.

Terra quickly slams his empty glass down, already beating the man then grins at everyone while placing his arms up as a declaration that he's a winner. All of the crowds cheer in joy as Prince Charming rushes to Terra's side and holds his hand up, playing as a role of a referee.

The tough-looking man threw his almost finish glass in annoyed and frowns.

"Who _else_ wants to challenge him?" announce Prince Charming, looking at everyone with expectance. Half of the men in the area raise their hand with a grin, "Let me at him!" "I want to challenge him!" "Leeme at him!" they called.

Terra laughs at them and shakes his head in drunken amuse, he stood up sloppily and then gestures with his hands to everyone, "Brriing it oon…" Prince Charming grins and looks at everybody,

"You _heard_ him! Go and _challenge_ him!" he exclaims.

Terra laughs again, "Nooo onee can _beat_ me…!" he plop down on his seat and pours down a beer on his empty glass unsteadily. One man automatically sits across from him and held up his glass, "Let's hit it mate!"

Terra gladly pours down the beer into his glass before they cheers.

"Ready? Set…_Go!_" Prince Charming exclaims.

Terra and the man begin to drink as the crowds surrounding them begin to cheer loudly on their favorite drinker.

"Hey" someone called.

You turn from the TV and see a bartender female looking at you with a raise brow and a hand on her hip. "What's a girl like you doing here?"

You jump at the male tone. You gave her a weird stare. Why is her voice sound like a man?

When you didn't answer, the bartender studies you for a bit with narrow eyes. You felt uncomfortable.

"So I see… Must be the heavy rain that drops you here _eh_?" she states. You nod. The bartender signs, "Well, as long as you don't get involve with around the brats, (she gestures to the wild crowded area in the middle) then I guess you'll be safe here. And no, sorry… I can't offer you any drink. It's against the rules that no one under 21 are allowed to drink." You nod in understanding. You didn't come to drink anyway.

"And…" she leans closer so that no one will hear, "Drinking is only for the _fools _here who have no other life and just here to get w_asted_…" she said in a low voice. You look behind you and see that almost everybody here did look wasted and sober.

"That's why I'd be careful if I were you…" she stated before leaving to serve another drink for the drunken men.

You nod. Right now you feel your dress and skin are getting dry from the humid air that's been surrounding this area. You wonder if the rain had stop… You desperately want to go and get that 'Sight Jack' potion so that you could make up for the terrible mistakes that you have caused for them.

* * *

><p>After minutes of waiting for the rain to stop and hearing the loud sounds of joys from people who had been cheering and yelling at the drinkers to finish their drink quickly, you heard a loud neighing sound just outside the main door.<p>

Horse…? Is that the horse?

You heard that loud neighing sound again. Suddenly you realize something… The horse is _calling_ you!

Maybe the rain had finally stopped. You stood up from your seat and walk out to leave. This place is driving you crazy with all the drunkenness and the loudness and you can't wait to find peace again.

You walk past by the surrounding people and don't even bother to look who's in the middle to see whose trying to waste themselves...The thought just makes you feel sick.

Your calculation is right. The rain did stop raining and the horse is smart enough to call you.

You smile and pet the horse in thanks before opening the stall and freeing him. You jump to climb on his back and straddle him.

You grab on the reins and squeeze your feet gently to his sides to usher him to move. When he didn't move, you look at him in curious. Why is he not moving?

You squeeze to his sides again and usher him to move. He didn't…

You look at him weirdly…Wanting to say 'Come on, move!' 'Let's go' 'We have to go' but you don't have a voice. You glare down at his neck.

Come on move! We have to go to the Potion Factory! You thought desperately. You punch him in the side. He snorts.

W-What? He _snorts_…?

Did you just hear him snorts?

You glare at him, whose probably trying to make a tease on you. You hit his side with your foot and punch him again to indicate that you have no time for jokes.

He snorts _again _then begins to move

Slowly…

You look down at him dumbfounded. Oh _come on_…!

You really had no time for this… What if someone finds out that your missing after checking out your fake sleeping form then freaks out?

You scowl down at the horse and pull the rope harder so that the horse's mouth will be pressed against it. The horse yelps then rears, giving you an angry look before speeding the way back to the forest.

You grip on the rope to avoid falling and slightly press your legs on his side so that you're glued to him.

_Ha_. The horse sure knows how to get his revenge…

But he doesn't know that his speeding _helps_ you reach the Potion Factory faster.

You focus on the way while gripping the reins. Thankfully, you've somehow had memorize the directions and hope that you'll be able to get there as soon as possible. So that you won't get suspicious afterwards when you come back early…

You can do this… You just got to have faith.


	9. Chapter 9

The quest to the Potion Factory is harder than you thought…

You expect to be there at any moment, but in each path you take, you felt like you just took the wrong turn, making you start all over again. Something isn't right… You felt like you are lost.

Well… you _are_ lost.

Oh…no.

This forest is too dim. It's hard to see clearly. You really don't know where you are… which makes you even more scared since you might not be able to return back to town and to the Palace.

You wanted to ask the horse if he knows where the Potion Factory is…But you know it's pretty useless.

You look around frantically, trying to make out if you've already been in this are before… But you find it hard because of the dimness.

You are already panicking from the inside, but try to remain as composure as possible on the outside so that you'll be able to make it. You stop the horse by pulling the rope before looking around.

Trees...

More trees…

And trees…

It's just the same. Trees are always everywhere no matter where you go. It's a forest or woods after all… Should you turn back?

You're already tired and just want to sleep…

But you'll be having trouble sleeping from having to think that Aqu/Aqua will have to search for Terra for the whole endless night and Venus/Ven having to be strongly worried about his friend…

You know Venus/Ven probably couldn't sleep tonight and is so depress thinking that Terra is already lost from somewhere far far away. You can't surpass this guilt.

Why would you have to sleep while Aqua and Ven are desperately worried about Terra's whereabouts?

You shake your head. You wouldn't sleep. You'll continue to find that Potion Factory even if it takes forever.

Terra is your friend too… So you will do _everything_ you can do to find him just as Aqua/Aqu and Ven/Venus would.

So you start tugging the horse then speed off to the path that will hopefully take you to the right way.

* * *

><p>Back at the tavern, majority of the drunken people had already passed out, wasted. While some are still wide awake and doing drunken stuff like singing, fooling around, cheating with their playmates, and talking. The rest are normal while some are newcomers.<p>

"Hey, wake up. You're not planning to slumber here, are you?"

Terra, who's resting his head on the bar table, slowly opens his eyes from sleeping and look up to see Mabel collective all the remaining empty mugs and pubs, placing it on the tray she's holding. He looks around in confusion.

"Huh? Where am I…?"

Mabel looks at him in disbelief, "What? Don't tell me you don't remember of all the things you've done around here"

Terra looks at her in surprise before looking around again. There's also men whose sleeping in a funny position with him at the bar table. Some are snoring loudly.

"You've knocked them all out and out beat them all." she smirks at him, "I'm impress. For a starter like you, you handled them very well…" she compliments, smiling at him.

Terra is surprise, "I do…?" he ask in disbelief.

Mabel nods and grins, "I guess that's what makes you a _real _man." she winks before going back to the bar with tray in hand. Terra flushes. He looks around again and all of the sudden, his memories come back.

He remembers how Prince Charming ushered for him to drink more until he gets drunk and then lost himself. Then dares men to challenge him in an arm wrestling and drinking contest in which, he all won. Must be the reason why most of the men had passed out.

Captain Hook begins playing the piano and sing 'Bugger Of' with the rest of the drunken men who do a choir with him. Terra suddenly realizes something…

"Ven…"

"Aqua…"

"===!"

He was supposed to find his friends! He can't believe how much his wasting time being drunk and instantly regrets it. Without a second thought, he stood up which causes to awaken Prince Charming and begins to leave the bar hurriedly.

"H~Hey, wait! Where are you going?" he asks, now fully awake.

"To search for my friends." he answers without stopping. Prince Charming looks at him in surprise and quickly stood up, "Wait! How about our _plan_? I thought we had already a deal ~"

Terra turns and glares at him, "Forget the deal. I've already wasted enough time here to realize that I was supposed to go for my friends. Thanks to you, I bet they're already worried about me…" with that, he turns and walks to leave.

Prince Charming follows him, "I promise I'll help you _better_ on finding your friends if we'll make a team on getting rid of the ogre!" Terra stops and then turns to him,

"I don't care about the ogre…What just happened already happened and it's too late to change that." He turns, his back now on him "Go find him yourself."

He is almost about to reach the door and grab the knob when Prince Charming chase and calls him, "Wait! I-I can help you find your friends! Just please! Give me another chance!" he begs. Terra turns and frowns at him,

"I don't need your help…"

Prince looks surprise at this and was about to say something else when Terra continues,

"To help someone that has to do with a kill, is never one of my lists…" he grabs the knob of the door and turns it. He looks over his shoulder and said,

"Go find someone else" he opens the door and left, leaving Prince Charming stood there in shock with his mouth gape. Then he curse…

"_Dammit_!"

* * *

><p>It has been over 20 minutes since you were lost. Right now you're in the forest, still having no idea on which path you're supposed to go and no clue where you are.<p>

Your heart is beating faster. You hate to admit it, but you think you're really lost.

No, _officially _lost.

You know you're already doomed…ship. You remember what Eraqus said to you before…

_Being lost means being out of sight, and being out of sight means being in __**danger**__._

You are lost, but did that count as danger?

Danger or not, your fear is enough of being lost in the dark. Let alone being in danger… You pull the rope to stop the horse and look around cautiously. Just where the heck are you?

You dismounted on the horse, trying to give him a break, and try to make some sense on where you two are. You signal for the horse to wait and stay here with a serious look before turning around to move forward, to see if you're familiar with these areas.

The horse looks a bit surprise to see you walk away and glares at you behind your back. How _dare_ you just leave him like this?

The horse makes an annoy neigh sounds and quickly follows you. You heard a heels step from behind and turn to see the horse following you, giving you a piss of look. You stop and narrow you're his at him.

Didn't I tell you to stay and wait? You thought.

He gestures with his head snaps for you to sit back at his back. You shake your head and stand there with your arms cross. Just what makes him the leader? You're his rider and you're the one who leads where you'll suppose to go. Did that horse forgets his role?

You signal for him to stay and wait here again, there's no time to waste, then turn around, walking away. The horse who's now behind you, looks at you in shock. Were you really planning to _leave_ him…?

Good. The horse finally obeys and stays where he is, not acting stubborn anymore. At least you'll have less trouble on finding where you two are now.

When you walk just far enough, you still could hardly make out what's in the distance ahead. It's very dim, the only light that guides you here are the stars above, offering you a tiny amount of brightness that is enough to see your surroundings.

Just a little more forward and maybe you'll finally know where you two are. Instead of walking, you quicken your pace, realizing that taking your time will only waste another time. That's trouble.

You can now see mountains just a few miles away, surrounding the forest. You look confuse. You wonder… Were there mountains the last time you guys went to the Potion Factory?

You turn to see if the horse is still waiting there, but when you turn, you suddenly realize that you went far way.

_Too_ far away…!

Oh _**ship**_!

You hurriedly turn and run back to where you left horsie. Where did you put him again?

Just when you run back to find him, you realize you forgot _where_ to find him…

You stop and slap your forehead, hard. You scold yourself. Now you're _lost_ all alone…! You suddenly regret leaving the horse behind to wait. You should have follow him… getting back on his back and move forward together.

Ugh… What a fool you are.

"~"~"~"~"~"

It has been 10 minutes since you've lost horsie and 10 minutes of trying to find him and know what area you are now in at the same time.

You are now in a panic-mode, feeling already lost in the middle of the dark forest without anyone to be with. Maybe you should have stayed in the Palace after all…

You cross that thought and decided to collapse against one of the trees to calm down a bit. You sign in depress… You've never thought you've ended up like this. You've thought you'll make it there fast enough and become success. But it turns out to be complete opposite… Instead, you ended up being here for more than 30 minutes. 40-50 minutes perhaps?

You wish you had a voice. So that you can call Horsie to find out where you are…

You frown then flutter your eyes shut, already tired after all the findings and searching you did. Without realizing it, you're suddenly out.

You slowly open your heavy eyelids when you heard a noise coming from a few meters away. Wait… You blink. Noise…? Did you just hear a noise?

There it is again… That _noise_.

Wha~? Is there a band going on…? You thought you've heard singing.

"_Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen…_" a group of men sings.

You slowly sat up and look into the area of where the sound came from…

"_Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men" _they continued, their voice getting closer. You could also see figures heading this way.

"_Feared by the bad, loved by the good__… __Robin Hood…, Robin Hood…, Robin Hood…"_

You _see_ them… You see a group of men wearing a green Lincoln clothes, marching their way here. One of them holds an instrument to play for their song.

"_He called the greatest archers to a tavern on the gre~_One of them suddenly stopped when they saw you watching them. Their eyes wide just as yours…

"Oh _mon_…" a man with an archer and sword said.

You quickly stood up when you see that all of them have a _weapon_. "Look! It's a girl!" one of them pointed at you. You freeze. You're in trouble…

No…_danger_

Before you could turn and run, the man in the middle runs and front flips to you. Your eyes go wide when he slings his arm over your shoulder. He grins at you,

"What's a _beautiful_ fille like you is doing in the woods hmm…?"

You shake your head rapidly, not wanting to get involved in a fight. The man tilts his head at you, "Non? Then why are you alone in ze forest mon cher?" Mon cher? What is he saying?

You slid out of his arms and back away, shaking your head while waving your hands to indicate that you meant no harm. "Monsieur Hood, I think she est _lost_" one of the men said.

'Monsieur Hood' jumps then looks at you in surprise, "_L-Lost? _Are you l-lost?"

You jump slightly, surprise by his surprise. Should you answer yes or no?

You nod curtly. Maybe he could help you…?

"I zee… Then allow me and my merry men to escorte you back home" he bows, grabbing your hand then kiss it. You are surprise… He offered to help? Aren't they bad guys?

The Merry men all flip forward to you both and then bow. One of them begins to play the Uilleann pipes, Concertina, Tin whistle and flutes.

"_We __are the merry men… Followers of the great Monsieur Hood_" they started to singing and do an Irish dance moves. Monsieur Hood swirls around and place himself in the middle, spreading his arms, "_I steal from the rich and give to the needy,"_

"_Fear by the enemies, love by the friends…" _the merry men continued, all encircle around Monsieur Hood while dancing. They all swirl around before dancing their way towards you. You back up.

"_I rescue pretty damsels, princesses…"_Monsieur Hood made his way to you and twirls you around then grabs your waist, bending you down "_and even gorgeous ones like you…_" You gave him a wide-eyed.

"_We are the merry men…Companions of the great Monsieur Hood"_ the merry men dances while surrounding you both, their arms over each shoulder. _"We vowed to help the people of the King…"_the merry men twirl and twirl around until they feel dizzy and collapse.

You quickly slid out of Monsieur Hood's arm and look around for an escape. Monsieur Hood grabs you again does a tango dance with you. "_I'm a fighter that never looks for a fight but fight for what is right_"

The merry men on each side do an acrobatic move_"We handled all the trouble on the English country scene"_all of them at the same time hops on the ground and bow_"Yet still found plenty of time to sing…"_

You manage to escape out of Monsieur Hood's hold and quickly back up. They all surrounded you again.

"_Feared by the bad, loved by the good…"_they present a proud Monsieur Hood who's standing proudly at the middle. _"So when a beautiful mon cher like you needs a help, we're here, we're here, we're here, we're here"_they snap their fingers while stomping their way towards you. You step back.

Monsieur Hood grabs you again and twirls you in circle_ "__So let me have the pleasure to guide you home…"_you struggle to get out of his grasp. He bends you down and brought his face closer to yours_, __"and be the first hero who sa~_"===!"

You all froze in surprise and turn to look to where that voice is coming from.

"===!" called the male voice again.

Your eyes widen in surprise when you saw _Aqu… _

Aqu is riding a horse and quickly making his way to you. His eyes narrowed in anger and _wow_… you never seen him look so pissed before. Your heart quickens…

Oh uh. He's mad at you…!

And he's not alone. Donkey and Puss are also running their way towards you. Puss is on Aqu's back, also riding the horse. Monsieur Hood quickly releases you. "Merry men!" he calls. All of the merry men run in front of him and draws their weapons, pointing threateningly at the three (or four if they include the horse).

Puss hops off Donkeys back and runs in front of you, protecting you. He extends his arm to his side and looks over his shoulder at you, "Stay back! I'll take care of this…" Donkey went to his side, "I'm with ya partner!" He stood in a fighting stance, narrowing his eyes threateningly at the seven men.

Aqu dismounted the horse and quickly went to you, "-! Are you alright?" he asks, worried, placing his hand on your shoulder. You look at him and nod.

You heard the horse grunts. You turn and suddenly went surprise to see its _Horsie_! Wha~? H-How? When? Where…?

You were snap out of your thoughts when you felt yourself being carried. You blush when you it was Aqu who carried you and place you on the back of the horse.

"Stay here" he instructs before joining the two.

Monsieur Hood draws out his small sword and points it at them three one at a time, "No one dares to move…" he threatens, "Or else me and my merry men here will have to _finish_ you in one swift mouvement."

You watch in fear. Now your friends are in _danger_ because of you.

Puss brings out his sword and points at them, "I'd like to see you guys try…" he dares. Monsieur Hood and the merry men laugh, "Just who are you guys anyway? Why are you taking mon cher away from me?" You froze...

Aqu, Puss and Donkey eyes widen and look stunned.

Donkey raises his brow, "Say _what?_"

Monsieur Hood glares, "You've heard me. Why did you steal her away from me?"

Aqu and Puss mouth gape while Donkey looks disgusted. "Are you kiddin' me? You say === here is your~ _**what?" **_his eyes went large.

Puss face palm, "You got to be kidding me…"

Aqu glares at them, "Just what are you trying to do with her anyway? And how did she _get _here?"

You froze. Uh oh… _Please_… Don't tell him! He tells anyway.

"We're going to guide her back home. Until you guys came along and _ruin_ it!" Aqu looks surprise then looks at you. You avoided his eyes. You're _dead_.

Aqu turns and narrows his eyes at Monsieur Hood, "And _how _did she get here? Did you guys _**kidnap **_her?" he snaps. You look at Aqu in surprise. You've never seen Aqu/Aqua this furious before…

Monsieur Hood and the merry men looks taken back and frighten. "N-Non… Non! We didn't! We're _innocent!" _he squeaks, dropping his weapon and falls to his knees in a begging position. The Merry men also did the same thing then plead, "_Please_… Don't kill us!" "Have _mercy_!" "We meant no harm!" "I'm too young to die!" "We're good men!" "We just wanna help her!" all six of them exclaims.

Monsieur Hood quickly stood up and bows down in respect, "We've only wanted to help!"

"Help in what?" ask Donkey.

One of the merry men answers, "Find her way home. We've found her lost here."

Your eyes widen.

Oh _**ship**__!_

Aqu, Puss and Donkey immediately look at you in surprise. You gulp and quickly look down.

"Lost…?" asks Aqu in surprise. Aqu looks at you again, "===, is it true…?"

You look at him hesitantly and nod. Aqu frowns at you. You look down again, feeling already guilty for leaving the Palace. You shouldn't have escaped in the first place…

Monsieur Hood and the merry men look uncomfortable at the awkward silence at look at each other.

"Oh mon! Would you look at ze time…! Guess we better get going! See ya gens!" Monsieur Hood calls and waves, before disappearing through the trees along with the rest of the merry men who also wave goodbye.

When they left, Aqu quickly turns to you and hurry at your way.

"===! What really happened? Did they kidnap you? Are they telling the truth? Were you really lost? Did they do something to you? Did they hurt you? Wh~

"Woah, woah Aqu! Slow down…! How could - answer all your questions when you just keep asking them?" Donkey states.

Aqu flush, "Oh. Sorry…"

Aqu mounted on the horse which makes you instantly stiff. Aqu's now behind you… which _means_…

You blush when you felt his arms on each side of your waist, taking a hold of the rein. "We'll take about this later okay ===?" You nod curtly, wondering if maybe he's mad at you.

Puss mounted behind Aqu's back and held into his waist.

"Come on guys. Let's head back to the Palace. We'll search for Terra tomorrow. It's getting late" Aqu said. Puss and Donkey nod. But since Aqu can't see Puss, Puss answers "Right on mi amigo"

To all of your surprise, Donkey hops on the back of the horse, making you all squeeze right next to each other. To add things worse, you felt Aqu's hard chest pressed against your back which cause you to blush madly. "Ah! Burro!" scolds Puss, "Hey~Ow!"

Your blush cools down when you no longer felt Aqu's chest. Donkey glares up at Puss, "What was that for?" he argues, piss at Puss for pushing him off. Puss glares down at him, "_You, _don't _fit_ here…"

Donkey groans "Aw! Why not? The far far away town is too far far away! How come you expect me to walk all the way up there when you know how tired I get so easily?"

"Then that's your problem…" said Puss, looking at his paws before blowing it.

Donkey gave him a disbelief look. Aqu looks down at him, "If you get tired, we can stop for a while if you like…" he offered. Donkey grins up at him then nods, "Oh okay! Maybe that's a good idea. Let's go!"

Aqu smiles at him before tugging the horse. The horse speeds up and runs his way through the forest. Donkey looks surprise. He glares,

"_**Hey!**_ I _didn't _say that you guys could take _speeding_! _Hey!_" he yells, trying to get all of your attention, only to be left far more behind…

He curse under his breath then catch up,

"Hey! _Wait _for mee…!"

* * *

><p>You all made back to the Palace, where Donkey immediately collapse to the ground, the guards all staring at you (you sweat drop), were being greeted by Pinocchio, Gingy and Wolf, and Dragon who hurriedly give Donkey a check-up to see if he's alright.<p>

Since you look like a mess, Fiona offers you to wear some of her human dress (much to your dislike) and hairbrush to comb your hair. When you look clean enough, Aqu took you back to your room.

As he lays you down on the bed, you felt the strong urge to apologize to him/her for what you've done, but don't know how.

When he was about stand up, you quickly grab his hand and look up at him in sorry, your eyes speaking your thoughts. He looks down at you then slowly leans down…

You stiffen. Déjà vu…

He sits down beside you then strokes your hair. Your heart rises. The stroke of your hair may feel good, but the _one_ who did it makes it hard for you to relax.

"You really had me worried back there…" he stops stroking your hair, "You know you're supposed to be staying here don't you?" You nod curtly, slowly avoiding his eyes, afraid that he might scold you.

You froze when he grabs your chin and gently lift it up for you to face him,

"No, I'm not mad… I'm only worried. You really don't have to do this…" You look at him in surprise. He _knows?_

"Just… Just don't try it again. Take a rest. Tomorrow, we'll start looking for Terra again…" he stood up then smiles down at you, "Don't worry, tomorrow we'll search for Terra through the whole day and won't rest till we find him. So go get some sleep. I promise that we'll find Terra tomorrow okay?"

You smile up at him in nod. You watch him walk to the door and grab the knob. And before he could turn it, he looks at you over his shoulder and smiles, "Goodnight -…."

You smile and nod goodnight too. He opens the door and switch off the light, making the room you're in dark, then closes the door.

You close your eyes and start to sleep…

* * *

><p><em> The next day…<em>

You, Aqu and Venus have just entered the main room and shut the door, making the elf from the reception desk look up and stare at the three of you. You three walk to the desk and saw the elf giving you guys a strange look, before snorting.

The three of you give him a glare.

"We're here to see Merlin" said Aqu in a serious tone.

The elf snickers before nodding. He on the loudspeaker then uses the old mic victor, "_Merlin! Three people here to see you!" _he called.

The three of you _twitch_ and cover your ears.

"_State their names!"_ Merlin calls. You could almost feel the entire room shaking.

The elf looks at the three of you then said, "State your names" "Aqua, Ven, -'' Aqu immediately response, not wanting to waste anymore time. The elf laughs loudly and calls on the mic, "_A-Aqu-a! Veen! =~===!" _

"_Ah I see! Bring them in! Tell them I'm inside the Potion room!" _Merlin exclaims. Before the elf can tell you guys the Merlin is inside the Potion room, you guys immediately rush to that place.

The elf looks at you three in wide-eyes.

"~"~"~"~"~"

"I'm sorry guys… But drinking another potion after taking the other previous one won't have an effect since the potion you guys were drinking needs to wear off first" Merlin explains.

"WHAT?" both Aqu and Venus exclaims in surprise at the same time while you are in shock.

"B-B-But, how are we suppose to _find_ our friend?" Venus asks in panic.

"I can give it to you guys, but then you'll have to wait for the clock to strike at seven for you three to transform back to your original selves before drinking it to enable you guys to get an effect…" Merlin offers, handling Aqu the right potion this time. Aqu took it.

"Then what are we going to do for the rest of the hours if we can't drink this potion until seven o'clock?" he asks, eyes filled with worry. "Just do whatever you guys can do. There's always another way… But if you have no any idea what to do, then I suggest waiting is the best option" Merlin states.

Venus clenches her fists, "But today is our _last_ day…! Master Eraqus might probably be here tonight to come and get us! And we haven't even started shopping yet to buy - some new clothes…" Aqu quickly approaches her and calms her down by placing a hand on her shoulder, "We'll find a way Ven… Let's just not give up. I have fate that we'll find him soon enough…"

Venus frowns at up at him, "But Aqua… How about -'s shopping? Then we won't have time for that!"

"There _will_ be time for that. We just need to find Terra first. I have a feeling that he's just somewhere around the town" Aqu states. Venus signs then nods.

"Yes yes, I do have the same feeling too. I think Terra must have already been in the town searching for you guys… Best hurry, he might think that you three are somewhere else."

Aqu nods, "Right. Come on guys," he looks at you and Venus, "let's not waste anymore time." You and Venus nod.

Just as you and Venus are about to follow Aqu to the door, Venus stop. She looks at Merlin, "Is there any possible way for - to stay in her transformed form?" You and Aqu froze.

Merlin looks surprise and then looks at you, "Well… There is." The three of you look surprise, "There is only one possible way for - to stay in her new form. So in order to do so, she must gain a kiss of a true love before midnight to make the change permanent…"

You, Aqu and Venus stare at him with wide eyes and mouth gape. The three of you are shock.

Your face reddens…_ T-T-rue love? _

Your eyes widen _even_ more _**K-K-Kiss?**_

Aqu looks speechless while Venus looks very flustered.

"Y-You're kidding _right_?" Aqu asks uneasily. Merlin shakes his head, "No… According to the books, some potions here have a list of transforming that can be stayed permanently, _if_ the drinkers receive their very first kiss coming from their true love before midnight strikes..."

"And the potion that - chose is one of them. Meaning, she won't change back to her original self until 12 am" he finish.

"So that means we'll be the first ones to transform ourselves back before her?" asks Aqu. Merlin nods, "Correct! And in case you guys also would like to stay permanent, it is also possible that you tw~

"_No!"_ they both exclaim at the same time.

"We uh, we like to remain back to our original genders hehe…" Venus states while laughing sheepishly. Aqu laughs sheepishly and nods, "Y-Yeah… I'm already used to being a female. Don't want to change…"

Merlin just shrugs, "Fine, suits yourselves. Sometimes, I wonder how it's like to be a female once in a while…" he wonders, looking up.

The three of you sweat drop.

"Er… Yeah…Good luck with that… So um, anyways, we have to go! Thanks again for helping us Merlin" called Aqu, smiling and waving at him goodbye before getting to the door.

"Oh! Your welcome! Anytime, anytime my friends…!" Merlin exclaims, smiling and waving at him too.

Venus quickly grabs your hand and smiles, waving at Merlin, "Yeah! Hehe, thanks again Merlin!"

"No problem!" Merlin grins.

Before you could also wave at him goodbye, Venus quickly rushes the both of you out the shut the door quickly.

"~"~"~"~"~"

"So, did you guys _get_ it?" Donkey asks excitedly as he and Puss jumps out of their hiding spot.

The three of you approach them.

"Well yeah, but, ~" Aqu was interrupted

"~ But? But _what_? Don't _**tell **_me that it didn't work man! I woke up bright and early this morning, being all hyper up and_ excited_ just to find Terra today and _now _you're bringing me the _**bad**_ news?" he whines.

Puss glares at him then hits him, "He hasn't even said anything yet" he hiss. Donkey glares at him, "What's with all the hitting?"

You approach Horsie and pet him.

"It seems that it won't work on us until we transform ourselves back…" said Venus, frowning. Puss and Donkey look at her in shock.

"Aw man! And I thought things are starting to work out…" Donkey frowns, looking down. Puss looks at the two, "So when will you guys turn to your true genders?" he asks.

"7 pm." Venus grins at him, "I'm finally not going to wear this dress anymore…" she gestures to her dress. "But senora, why not? You look _pretty_ in that dress… What must have made you hate that dress that fits you so _perfectly _with that rubio long hair of yours, and that océano azul eyes that have melts dozens of weaken hearts…?"

Venus looks at him wryly.

Aqu helps you get up on the horse before helping Venus get in front of you.

"So how do we find Terra now?" ask Donkey, arching his brow. Aqu looks at him, "We look around the town…" he answers, before leading the horse by the rope.

Donkey went beside him, "But that's gonna take us forever!" Puss nods in agree as he jumps on Donkey's back. "I'm afraid he's right príncipe… There's no way we can find him on time if we'll search for him everywhere."

Aqu frowns but didn't say anything.

Venus snaps her finger, "Hey I know! Why not we _let_ Donkey and Puss drink the potion instead? Maybe they can help us!" she smiles.

Donkey and Puss' eyes widen.

"W-We…? You mean us? Us two!" ask Puss in surprise. Aqu smiles and nod, "Yeah… Why not? Maybe you guys can help us find Terra with this potion" he gestures to the potion he's holding.

Donkey backs away while shaking his head, "Oh...no guys. I mean, what if we _mess_ up? We don't even know how this Terra guy _looks_ like!" he protests. Puss nods, "Yeah… We don't want to cause you guys any trouble" he states.

Venus hops down on the ground and smiles at them, "Trouble? More like _favor_. Come on guys, I thought you want to help us!" She kneels down in front of them, "Please…? Do it for us?" she begs.

"We'll tell you how Terra looks like…" Aqu offers and Venus nods, smiling.

Donkey and Puss sign in defeat then nod at the same time. "Alright alright… We'll help. But on one condition…" said Donkey.

Aqu and Venus smile then nod, "Sure, what is it."

"Don't be blamin' on us if we get the _wrong_ guy" he states as Puss nods.

Aqu and Venus grins,

"Deal!"

* * *

><p>After Donkey and Puss drank the potion, Aqu and Venus told them the description of how he looks like and what kind of clothes he is wearing.<p>

All of you made back to town, already getting ready to search for Terra. You're all now on the streets, passing by many people who'd sometimes give a long stare to either you, Aqu or Venus.

You've notice that Aqu and Venus were already used to being stared, which amazes you…

"Man this is _hard_! How will we be able to know which is Terra when there's like _thousands _of men living here?" Donkey complains, gritting his teeth as he tries to focus on his sight jacking.

"Just focus Donkey. We only got few hours left!" said Venus, pleading at him.

"I _am_ focusing!" Donkey argues.

Aqu looks at Puss, "Puss, how are you doing there?" he asks in concern. "I haven't even started yet… I don't know where to begin" Puss said.

Venus looks at him, "Why don't you try on one of the nearest streets? He might be out door by now…" she suggests. Puss nods then concentrates, touching his forehead.

"And how 'bout me? Where should I begin?" ask Donkey. "Do the same thing. Two is better than one, is it not?" said Venus, smiling down at him. Donkey nods, "Right, I just hope my tag team partner won't screw this up while we're on it ~ _OW_!" he glares at Puss who glares at him back, after punching him to his side. "You're the one to talk…" Puss said before focusing again.

The three of you look at each other in amuse.

These two have an interesting relationship…

* * *

><p>For the rest of the remaining time, you in a horse, Aqu, and Venus followed the two who's running to where they think Terra is at. Donkey states that the Terra he sees as a point of view might be the guy who'd just went inside a Bakery Store, talking to the muffin man. You guys hurriedly went there.<p>

When the five of you went inside that store (the horse wait outside), there's no sign of Terra… Only the muffin man who is busy baking some muffins, and one guy where you guys assume to be Terra, is actually some customers after all…

You guys sign in failure and left. Donkey gave you all an apologetic smile.

_**10 minutes later…**_

Puss assumes that the Terra he might have sight jack must be the guy who is talking to a police man just somewhere around the corner. All of you immediately followed Puss to that area…

You guys followed Puss all the way until you reach that supposed destination. When you guys went there, you all saw that it was only two policemen talking to each other, eating donuts…

Puss gave you all his sad big wide-eyed expression to indicate his sorry.

_**20 minutes later…**_

You guys decided to split up to make things go faster. You, Aqu, and Puss in one group while Venus, Donkey and Horsie in another group.

This time, Puss decided to try focusing on Terra's appearance instead…

Tall young man with brown hair that reaches to the base of his neck… What is the color of his eyes again? Skip that. He has a slightly tanned skin. That's all Puss could memorize before focusing on his sight jacking ability again.

You and Aqu look at him with hope as he focuses his sight jack.

"~"~"~"~"~"

After a few minutes, Puss gestures for you two to follow him. You two did, following him all the way from buildings to buildings, streets to streets, passing by several people who are walking by and look around desperately to see any form of Terra. None…

Puss finally found where he thinks it might be Terra and pointed at him, asking you two if he's the one. You two look at him and frown. That's not Terra… That guy who he just pointed at is just another person. He's a little bit skinny and looks a little old and his hair may be brown but it does not match Terra's hairstyle.

You and Aqu sadly shake your heads at him as Puss frowns…

_**Hours pass by yet still no progress…**_

The six of you meet again after many receiving many failure attempts over a few hours.

Venus and Donkey frown then shake their head, signaling that they haven't found Terra… You three frown and shake your heads too.

It's over 12pm now, already in the afternoon…and you guys are just walking by the corners of the street with your heads down. All in a failure mood, and even exhausted… Some of you are sweating except the hairy ones.

"We'll _never_ gonna find him! It's been like 3 hours of us searching for him but every time we've ended up looking for the wrong guy!" Donkey whines, stomping his heels in irritation. Puss takes of his hat and fans himself with it, "_Whew_… Is it me or is it really getting hot in here?"

Aqu looks up in the sky and twitches when the brightness of the sun hits him, "Yeah it is… Should we take a break?" he asks, looking at all of you.

Donkey grins, "Yeah! Why don't we go eat some lunch? I'm already starving guys!" he stood in his two heels and shows his rumbling stomach that just creates a growling sound. Donkey grins wider before he stood back in all four, "See? We better start eating if we don't wanna find Terra with an empty stomach. We need to refill more energy on us guys!"

All of you nod in agree.

"I guess he's right. Do you two know any of the cheapest restaurants here around this town?" ask Aqu, looking down at Puss and Donkey.

Donkey gapes. He gave Aqu a disbelief look.

"Are you kidding me Aqu? You want us to eat at the cheapest restaurant?" he looks at him in shock with his brow raise, "The food there tasted _cheap_!" he exclaims in disgust.

Aqu glares at him, "We only need a bite to eat Donkey… It's not like we're having an appointment or something" he states. Puss nods, "Yeah Burro… We need to eat fast to find Terra faster" he said.

Donkey grunts and turns his back angrily at all of you.

"Fine, but you guys better be sharing!" he said, leading the way.

Puss looks at you at and points his index finger at the side of his head and draws a circle around at a couple of times, signaling that Donkey is a crazy donkey, before moving and walk beside Donkey.

* * *

><p>You all made it into the Rodeo Drive streets since Donkey had stated that it has the cheapest restaurant on this town and are all now sitting outside, having an outdoor restaurant with menu in hands. Horsie is sitting beside you, since you two have a nice bonding relationship.<p>

When Aqu and Venus opens the menu at the same time, their jaw drop…

They look at Donkey in disbelief.

"Donkey… Why are the prices so _high_?" Aqu snaps, glaring at Donkey. Donkey grins sheepishly and opens his menu at the table then studies the prices…

$100…$192…$209…$212_…_

_$300…$322…$350…$410…_

_**$432…$456…$501…$521… **_

Donkey sweat drops.

He looks up at you all with a sly smile, "This is the only cheapest restaurant I know…" he states innocently while giving you all an innocent smile.

You all look at him deadpanned.

Since you guys find the prices too expensive, all of you decided to have a quick food since you guys want to eat quicker.

Donkey gives a smug look when all of you have in your plates are just a simple hamburger and with a glass of water at your sides…

"Really guys…? Have y'all ever eaten before?" he mutters before grudgingly slumps his head on his plate and gives a wild bite at his hamburger.

"Have you ever eaten breakfast before?" asks Puss, before taking a bite of his hamburger.

Donkey glares at him, "Have you ever felt _hungry _before?"

You grab a piece of your hamburger and feed Horsie beside you.

Aqu and Venus watch Donkey and Puss in a sweat drop as the two of them get's closer to each other's faces.

"Why don't you shut up and eat your meal? Maybe that'll _satisfy _your hunger…" said Puss, narrowing his eyes at Donkey. Donkey narrows his eyes back, "How about you try_ skipping _your breakfast… What would that made you feel?"

Their getting dangerously closer…

Puss slowly grabs his sword threateningly from his belt while giving Donkey a glare, "Who'd be _stupid _enough to skip breakfast… I'd _never_ skip breakfast."

Donkey grits his teeth then slams his heel on the table, making the glasses and the plates jump slightly, also the three of you on the chairs.

"I did it as a sacrifice! Wanting to help the guys find Terra first!" he exclaims.

"How about not wanting to find Terra in an empty stomach huh? Where did that go…?" Puss reminds.

"Guys…"

"I wasn't that hungry! Not anybody in the morning eats breakfast okay?" "Oh… So you wasn't that _hungry_. Then what about the hungry now? Where did _that_ come from huh?" Puss mocks.

"Guys…!"

"That came from my stomach! Where else?" states Donkey, giving him a strange look.

Out of the corner of your eyes, you thought you saw a figure of Terra just a few miles away…

"There's a reason behind all of these! _Why_ are you hungry? _How_ did you become hungry? _What_ makes you hungry? _When _did you turn hungry?" argues Puss, bringing out his sword that causes both Aqu and Venus to jump. "You know all the answers! Do you seriously need me to answer all of them for you?" ask Donkey in disbelief.

"Guys!" snap Aqu, grabbing Puss and placing him back to his seat while Venus did the same to Donkey.

"We got no time to lose! This is not the time for an argument!" scold Venus, glaring at the two who still glares at each other, still not separating their stare.

You're eyes widen when you see Terra…

_Terra!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Terra!_

There's Terra! You just saw him walking by across the street from the distance with a lot of people on his sides.

"If you want, you can have _another_ hamburger once you're done with this…" Venus said, gesturing to Donkey's half finish hamburger. Donkey gave a disapproving look, "How 'bout _dozens _of hamburgers? I can finish them all in just 10 seconds! Leftovers are also appreciated…" he grins

You study that figure to make sure if that's really Terra… It's hard to see clearly when he's very far away. What if that's someone else…?

"Just _how_ many did you want?" ask Aqu in annoyed. Donkey thought about it, "Hmm... How about_ just 10_ hamburgers? I can finish them all real quick! Since I'm a fast eater" Puss rolls his eyes.

"_Ten hamburgers_?" Aqu and Venus exclaims in surprise

You eyes widen. Terra…

It's really him…!

He's _there! Terra's _there…

"Here! You can have my hamburger! Better than to watch you eat…" Puss said, throwing his hamburger to Donkey's plate. Donkey smiles, "Oh, thank you Puss! That's was really nice of you… Don't mind if I do" He begins munching his hamburgers quickly, making a big _mess._

Aqu, Venus, Puss and Horsie stare at him in disgust.

Aqu and Venus slowly brings their hamburger to Donkey's plate, "Uh, Here…Take this too," Aqu offers, "I'm not hungry anymore" he states. "Me too… You can have it" said Venus. Donkey grins, "Aw! Thanks guys! Much appreciated" he said with his mouth full. Venus and Puss cringe.

You look at the guys quickly, about to tell them that you just saw Terra

"_There_ they are! The thieves!" someone shouts.

All of you turn your heads and saw the guy who was chasing Donkey yesterday, points at you all with two familiar police officers.

All of your eyes widen.

"Get them!" he yells at the officers

All of you except Donkey jolt out of your seats "Run!" Venus exclaims. Donkey looks at back at you guys in surprise before at the officers who's now running to chase you all. He looks down at his plate… No way is he going to let them waste!

He picks up a hamburger before jolting out of the seat, following after the five of you. Aqu quickly looks at you all and called, "Let's split up guys! Try to distract them from elsewhere and let's meet back at Santa Monica!"

The four of you nod and split up, just as Donkey reaches you all. He look around you guys in confuse, "Hey! What are you guys doin'? Why are we splitting up?" he asks in confuse.

"To separate them away from us!" Aqu answers, quickly mounting on the horse and tugs the rope. Donkey looks even more confuse, "Huh, _what_? I thought _we_ are separating from them!" he states, following after Horsie and Aqu. Aqu looks down at him, "We are…"

Donkey raises his brow at him, "Wha~

"Just follow me!" Aqu called, tugging on the horse again to move faster. Donkey looks at him in disbelief when Aqu accelerates the horse, making it impossible for him to catch up.

"Hey _wait_ up! You're moving way too _fast_!" he runs after them.

* * *

><p>You saw Terra… You could have sworn you saw Terra. You can't believe you saw Terra.<p>

You are now running with Venus and Puss. Venus is having a bit of a hard time running since the edge of her dress is a bit too long so she has to hold them up. Puss on the other hand has to carry his hat while running in all four so that it won't fall off.

"Is one of them chasing us?" called Puss, who's leading the way for the two of you since he's more familiar of this place. Venus looks back and gives a sweat drop. One police officer is chasing the three of you from 4 miles away…

"Afraid so… Puss! Where should we hide?" she asks in panic.

"Just follow me! I know the perfect place we can hide without being seen or caught by one of those imbéciles policía!" he states, clutching his hat protectively against his chest and now run in his boots. Venus nods, making a grunting sound then looks at you, "Stay close -. We're almost there…"

You nod at her while continuing to match their pace. You look back to see if the officer is getting close… Your heart speeds up thrice when you see that he's getting _closer_…! You can see that he is trying to catch his breath while chasing after you three at the same time.

When you turn your head back, you suddenly _trip_ to the ground, almost hitting your head, but it's a good thing you manage to push yourself up before you could ended up in a flat nose. You look up to see that Venus and Puss are now a few meters away from you, not noticing that you suddenly tripped.

Venus stops and quickly turns to you in worry,

"===!"

Puss also stops after hearing Venus calling your name and saw you sprawling on the ground. You look back and see that the police officer is getting dangerously close to you guys and are about to usher the two to run and safe themselves, when Venus hurriedly went to you to help you up.

Before she was about to reach you, the police officer already grabs you by the arms and pulls you up. Venus and Puss stops in front of you two with a worried and panic look on their face. The officer gives them a smirk, "Ha! Guess you guys can't run away from me anymore!"

Venus glares, "Let her go! Or else!" she snaps. The officer gives another laugh and said in a mock voice, "_Let her go! Or else!_ Ooh… I'm _scared_… A _girl_ just threatens me!" You saw Venus gritting her teeth…

"I wonder what she'll do if I don't wanna let go of her friend… Haha, sorry _missy_," you saw Venus clenching her fists, "You see… I'm an _officer_ here. My job is to arrest people who commits a crime here, such as _stealing_, breaking the rules, _not_ paying for what they've took, ru~ OW!" you've just elbowed him _hard_ on his side and break release from him.

"Ahhh! You foolish girl! You just hit me!" the officer yells, clutching his side while glaring at you. Venus and Puss look surprise to what you had just done.

The police officer slowly stood up and is about to bolt at you but luckily, Venus and Puss tackles him just in time to the ground. Venus quickly looks at you,

"===, don't worry about us! Just go find a place to safe yourself. I promise we'll come and get you!" she calls, looking at you with determination. "Ugh! Get of me!" demanded the officer, who's struggling beneath their weight.

You look at them for a while, unsure of this… then nod. The two watches you run.

You look back again to see how are they doing and saw that they are waiting for you to leave. "Go ahead chica! We got him under control!" Puss called, waving his hat around in one hand before using it to cover the police's head to prevent him from seeing you. Venus nods.

You turn your head back and continue to run away from the police's sight, hoping that Venus and Puss will be able to handle him without any trouble.

* * *

><p>You don't know where to go. You don't know where to hide. All you know what to do is run…<p>

You don't even know if you did the right thing, of leaving the two behind… But Venus said that they'll come to get you, right? You trust them but…where should you go?

After few minutes of running, you need to catch your breath. You stop running and try to calm yourself for a while. Your beating heart needs it.

When you look up, you saw many beautiful shops, with rich people surrounding you, shopping… You felt like stealing again… Then suddenly you realize something, _Terra_!

You remember that you saw Terra earlier, crossing on the road just a few miles away. That means he must be also here in Rodeo Drive.

You look around. This place is really crowded… How will you be able to find him?

You look down in thought. You remember the last time you saw Terra at the Rodeo Drive area was when you and the guys were having lunch. That area has to be at least 300 blocks or more…

But if you come back, you might get caught. Cause that's where the madman is…

You frown. But Terra's there…! You had to find him!

You're _not_ scared of the madman. He can't stop you from finding your friend. Terra is more important than him anyway…

So you hurriedly begin to head back towards the Rodeo Drive streets, hoping that Terra is still somewhere there and that the madman is no longer there.

_**After 10 minutes…**_

You're lost…

_Again!_

You inwardly groan. Well done -, _well done_… You realize when you're running away from the creepy police man and after being ushered to, you weren't studying where you're going… And now you regret it.

You don't even know how _read_ what the words meant on the map next to you. You just stare at it dumbly… _Where_ are you?

You're not sure if the buildings around you are shops anymore. Where are the guys? You wonder how Venus and Puss are doing. You're worried about them.

You went closer to one of the building and examine it. It's a Tattoo shop. You see from the window that there are like thousands of tattoo designs with body images. When you look inside, your eyes widen in fear and surprise when you saw a man who is about to use the piercing gun on a shirtless guy, who's sitting on a lounge chair. You quickly look away… What is that man doing? You thought this is a _tattoo _shop...! You hurriedly went out of the way. Don't want to be the piercing man's next victim.

You decided to check the other building instead. One which is safer to look at…

The next building you check is a Salon shop. Inside the shop, you saw a hairdresser placing a mega mullet wig on a man's bald head. The man grins and examines his new hair at the mirror before paying the hairdresser and leaves. You step back when he opens the front door and saw him walking pass you, looking all confident.

When you pass by a restaurant, you saw a waiter outside who's serving plates to the customers suddenly fell to their table when the front door of the restaurant opens, causing the food from the plates to spill over the table and one customer from the table to jolt up in surprise. The customer who jolts up accidentally bumps into another waiter, who was the one who opened the front door with a large cake, causing him to drop the cake by mistake.

When the waiter who fell stood up, the other waiter angrily grabs him and chokes him since he thought he was the one who bumped into him.

_Poor guy_… You thought, feeling already sorry for the waiter.

_**After unknown long minutes_...**

You look around with slight fear. Where are you _now_…?

You're now in an unfamiliar place. More buildings, more unfamiliar roads, more beautiful structures, more shops, and more people… You really don't know where you are… You might probably be far away or near the Rodeo Drive streets. What if Terra is no longer there anymore?

That thought makes you panic so you quicken up your pace.

You remember that Aqu said to you guys to meet up at the Santa Monica. That, you don't even know where it is… You're _screwed_…

You stop you're pace and sign… You felt like giving up. It's useless… You have no idea where you are, you lost sight of your friends, you might be miles away from them and Terra might be already gone from the Rodeo Drive streets… You might fail again like yesterday and you don't want it to happen again…

When you look up, you froze…

There, standing just a few miles away from the street is the _other_ police officer who's been chasing Aqu, Donkey and Horsie earlier. He's talking to a random people, probably asking if one of them saw you guys running this way. The random people shake their head then continue to walk. The policeman signs in frustration then look _this_ way. Your eyes widen.

He s_aw_ you…!

He's eyes widen too. When you're about to turn and run away he grabs his whistle and whistles, pointing at you. You jump in surprise and look at him in panic.

"Stay where you are young lady!" he called, quickly approaching you.

Your eyes widen. He runs up to you as you quickly turn and run away to where you came from. "Hey stop! Don't you run away from me Miss!" he called and whistles again.

You squeeze and pushes pass people who were blocking your way. Some of them are glaring at you while some are giving you a curious look. You run as fast as you can while trying to find the best hiding place. Not _possible_. These streets just keep getting crowded and crowded!

You choose a random path which contains a lesser population than the rest. The lesser people, the easier to run...

From the distance, you saw a camera man and a female newscaster. The female reporter is interviewing a boy with short-sleeved green tunic and tights that is made of cloth, and a cap with a feather on it.

"Here we are now live on the Wilshire Boulevard with me about to be interviewing one of the_ most_ famous Disney celebrities ever live since the year 1915!" the blonde female reporter said, looking at the camera before she turns and smiles at the boy.

"So _Peter Pan_, what's it like to be the boy who wouldn't grow up and has to live for all eternal life on the small island called _Neverland_?" she asked excitedly before raising the microphone to Peter Pan's mouth.

Peter Pan who was standing beside her with his fist on his hips, grins then snatches the microphone away from her hand. "Well for me, to die will be an awfully big adventure. So I decided to live the life in a never ending adventure as a part of never '_growing up_'!" he states confidently while pumping his chest.

You run pass them and look around quickly, trying to find if there's any place here to hide. You're draining out of energy.

"And where's your _shadow_? How come we didn't see him with you?" asks the reporter, looking at the ground that Peter Pan stood.

Peter Pan looks down and was surprise as well when he saw that his shadow wasn't him. He looks around, trying to find where his shadow is… until he found him then grins. He points, "There he is!"

The policeman runs pass them as Peter Pan's shadow collides with his and extend his foot so that his shadow will fall. The policeman suddenly trips to the ground with an '_oof_'.

The shadow returns back to Peter Pan and both gave a high five before reattaching himself back to him.

"Ohh…! So there you _are_! Why don't you also meet my shadow? My shadow has been a great fan of yours ever since ~

* * *

><p>Good.<p>

You manage to get far enough from him at least. You study the place quickly. Where should you hide? There are a lot of shops here that you can hide in but can be seen in...

Then you got an _idea_.

You quickly enter inside a store and once you get in, you grab a random dress from the aisle then went to a huge selection of female wigs.

You select a long curly red hairstyle wig with bangs to cover some part of your face and hurriedly went to a fitting room.

_**After 20 minutes…**_

It took you long enough to adjust on wearing the new dress which is color blue and wearing the hair wig and took off the tag price. You use some of the hair wig's bang to cover half of your face while quickly straightening the dress you have previously wear and went to an aisle. You pretend that the dress you're holding is also a part of the store's dresses by placing the dress quickly into the aisle.

After that, you went to a selection of sunglasses and pick up an over-sized large round shape frame to also cover your eyes and quickly hid it at the back of your dress' neckline to avoid being seen. Good thing all of the people here are minding their own business… Or else you could get into _twice_ trouble.

You leave the shop, acting as nonchalant as possible. When you get far enough from that store, you took out the sunglasses from behind your neckline and wear it.

There... Now you look completely different. The policeman won't recognize you at all.

Time to find Terra…

_**After another unknown long minutes…**_

After looking around many shops and buildings where you watch some of the rich people shop, you finally realize that you forgot to get high heels to make it look like your tall enough. What if the policeman recognizes your height?

That doesn't matter… As long as you look different he won't bother you.

You decide to take a break for a while then sit down on one of the steps of the stairway. On your left, you saw the police just run down steps by your side and looks around. You quickly adjust your wig and your sunglasses while not making it look suspicious.

You stiffen when the policeman turns to you… You gulp when he slowly approaches you…

You just sat there calmly, not wanting him to recognize the _real_ you.

"Excuse me miss…" he called, you look up. "Have you seen a girl with a ~~~ dress and a ~~~ ~~~ hair running pass here?" he refers to you, "About this tall," he uses his hand to indicate your height, "And looks to be the age of 13 or 15?" he asks.

You immediately shake your head and shrug '_Just get outta ma face_'you thought.

The policeman nods (_ha!_) and runs down steps again, until he reaches the ground and turns his head around, trying to look for you.

He finally turns to the right and runs again to find you. You sign in relief. That was _close_…

You stand up, thinking that you have enough rest and hold the edges of your dress before running down the steps. When you reach the ground, you took the left road.

* * *

><p>When you walk on the streets with another full of shops, hotels and restaurants, a lot of people stop and turns at you, giving you a gawking look.<p>

You stop and sweat drop. What are they staring at?

You look down and suddenly realize why... The way you dress makes you look like a _celebrity_. Wait, maybe they think you a_re_ a celebrity… You blush at that thought. _Okay_, just play cool…

You walk pass by them with your chin up and ignore all of their stares. Their staring didn't bother you… a bit. You heard murmurs and whispers every time you went pass them and saw one of the guys giving you a wink. You just shrug them all off and continue walking straight, not caring what those crowd will do next.

You were suddenly attack by group of ladies who all asked for your autograph. Each of them offers you a pen for you to sign their hand, palms, bags, faces, and some parts of their body… You back away from them, feeling a bit weird out. And to your fear, another group of people rush to you and told you to take a picture with them.

You stand stiff as one of them hold you closer to them and smile at the camera. It's a good thing you're wearing a sunglasses, or else you might go blind from all of the flashes that came from many different cameras. Before you could escape from their grasp, more people came by your side and took a picture of you. Oh boy…

Now you are being surrounded by many people…Making it hard for you to escape. You tried pushing them out of the way but only ended up being squeeze.

Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw the police man went to this road and turns his head around frantically, still searching for you. He quickly rushes to some random people and give them a description of you, asking if they've seen you running this way.

You finally squeeze all your way through the dozen amounts of people and successfully freed yourself. You sign in relief.

The female reporter from earlier just appear from around the corner with her cameraman and gasp when she saw you, "Oh! We have _another_ celebrity!" she looks at her cameraman "Quick! This way"

Before you could run away, the familiar female from before just run into you then starts interviewing you, "Wow! You look absolutely dashing today _princess_" your eyes from behind the frames widen in surprise when she called you princess "I love your _style_!" she gestures to your dress and then touches your hair

"Have you just come from a saloon? Cause your hair looks so _fabulous_!" she compliments, grinning

You quickly grab her hand to stop her from touching it and shake your head frantically to show her that you don't want your hair to be touch. From the shaking of your head, the hair wig suddenly fell to the ground, causing everyone to gasp and stare at you in surprise…

_Oh shirk!_

Now your real hair is exposed...! The reporter looks at you in wide-eyed and mouth gape while the cameraman accidentally drops the camera his holding. When the policeman turns his head this way, he _sees _you!

The reporter quickly kneels down and grabs the wig while apologizing at the same time "Oh I'm so _sorry_ princess!" she quickly places the wig back at your head, "I really had no idea that this is your _wig ~_

You heard the policeman blows his whistle then points at you, calling "_Stop_ right there!"

The reporter still adjust the wig on your hair quickly, completely oblivious about the policeman. Your eyes widen when you saw that he is running his way towards you. You quickly remove the hair wig and the sunglasses and give it to the reporter before running away.

The reporter looks at you in surprise… She looks at the wig and the sunglasses before looking back at your running form. She grins then held them both up, "_Thanks_ princess! I promise I'll keep them forever!" she called.

* * *

><p>You look back and saw that he was trying to catch up and match your speed. You decided to increase your speed, using that as an advantage. When you turn your head back to the front, you suddenly bump into someone's hard chest and fell to your butt.<p>

_Ouch_! You thought, closing your eyes tightly to get over your pain…

Someone kneels down in front of you and places a hand on your shoulder,

"Hey, are you alright?" asks a guy's voice

You have no time to response when you heard another whistle that is getting _closer _to you. Your eyes widen and you quickly look back. _Oh ship! _He's almost near…!

You quickly stood up and run, still looking at the police man behind you while pushing pass through the guy and look ahead to continue searching for a perfect place to hide.

"~"~"~"~"~"

Terra quickly regains his balance after the girl pushes him out of the way and watch her ran away.

The police man blows his whistle again as he runs passes him and exclaims, "This is your _last _warning! _Surrender_ now or else I'll be going to have to call for another back up!" he warns.

Terra looks surprise… Why's a police chasing her?

He narrows his eyes in thought. And why does that girl looks so familiar…?

It's been like more than an hour of the police chasing you around in almost the entire streets…

"~"~"~"~"~"

That policeman really never likes to give up even though he looks like he could be out in a seconds.

But now you were glad 'cause you finally manage to escape from him and found your perfect hiding place, which is to get away…

You finally figured out that these streets have no hiding places.

All you can do is to get far away… Not too far away, just far enough for the police to be far away. You barely see any shops now, just a few. And you know you're no longer at the Rodeo Drive streets anymore. You're in different streets.

You notice that it is almost getting sunset. And one of the street lamp posts had already turned on.

It's getting late…which scares you. You don't know what you should do next. You sign and look down. Maybe you should just wait for Venus and Puss to get here… But, why aren't they coming yet? Is the policeman still chasing them…? That thought worries you.

You know that Aqu, Donkey and Horsie are already fine, since that the police who was chasing you earlier lost them. And yet he is still targeting you.

You hate police…

Suddenly you heard a growling sound.

Man… your _hungry_. You haven't eaten enough since the start of the search. You clutch your stomach as you felt it rumbling… _Food_… You need food. You're never use to starve to death. You look around to find a place to eat, or rather… a food to steal.

You begin to walk while scanning the area for any signs of food. Your stomach is growling again… You felt uncomfortable. There are hardly any foods to be seen here…

Maybe you should go back to where you came from. Go back to Beverly Hills where many shops, stores, restaurants, residences and rich people live there. Oh_,_ and also find the guys, especially _Terra_.

Time to return back to Rodeo Drive… You got no time to waste!

So you turn around and run back to the previous streets and hopefully you'll make it on time.

* * *

><p>You made it back to Beverly Hills streets when the sky is already dark and all of the street lights are already lid.<p>

You stop for a while and place your hands on your knees to catch some air. You've been running while having some trouble finding your way back here for more than one hour. You can feel your heart pounding on your chest and need to calm it down before running again. But you are tired of running so maybe walking is a good idea.

When your heart is at a normal rate, you stood up straight and continue to walk your way to the streets where you hope it will lead you to the Rodeo Drive Boulevard. You stop when you felt your stomach rumbling again. You grit your teeth and grip your stomach tightly.

Now you understand how Donkey felt… Being hungry is like being _fainting_… You really need to eat now. You can't keep up like this… You desperately need food to avoid collapsing anytime soon.

You quickly move again while still gripping on your stomach tightly. You have to focus -…

FOCUS!

_**After 26 minutes…**_

Your almost there… Almost near to the Rodeo Drive streets again. You're really hoping that you could find a way to steal some food when you're already there. You stop and hold your forehead.

Suddenly, you felt light headed… You drop down to your knees and rub your forehead vigorously. You don't want to _pass out_. You can't! When you open your eyes, you saw that the scenery in front of you blur slightly. You shake your head to clear the blurriness and blink.

When the scenery around you is clear, you stood up and were glad that nobody saw you. Thank God that only a few people are here…

You quickly cross on the road where there are no more carriages passing by and made it to the next street. On this street, you saw a lot of rich people just came out from a store while carrying so many expensive things they just bought. Rich people… You narrow your eyes. You hate them just as the police.

You continue walking and on your left, you see plenty of people are having an outdoor restaurant. You suddenly drool when your eyes focus on the deserts some of them are having and felt the urge to steal it and run away from them. Too bad that can only causes you trouble. Your stomach growls just in time when you saw how delicious their dinner looks like... You clench your eyes shut and continued walking, trying not to let the sight of the food distract you.

_**After 15 minutes…**_

You felt like your legs are almost about to give up.

You're losing strength. You need…_more_…_**energy**_… Every after minute, your stomach will begin to growl. This time, more loudly and more eagerly…

You stop walking. Your about to _lose_ it… Your nearly about to collapse.

You feel very weak at this moment and don't know if you'll be able to make through… You weakly grab your forehead again when you felt another light headed forming.

What's happening to you…? You never felt like this before… Are... Are you _dying_…?

When you look up, your eyes widen…

_Is that Terra?_

Yes! It's Terra! Terra's there!

All of your signs of symptoms have suddenly vanished and been replaced by strength when you saw Terra. Terra's just inside of one of the stores in just a few miles away so you start running to him.

You finally found him…

You finally found your friend! You never felt so glad and relief in all your life!

In just 30 seconds, you slam open the door of the luxury department store, which causes some of the people inside to their turn head in surprise at you, and look around frantically for Terra while admiring the place at the same time… This shop contains clothing and accessories for men and women. All items here look expensive. Who cares? You're here to see Terra!

You found Terra just walking by the aisles and quickly went to him. When you reach him, you turn him around and quickly hug him.

He looks down at you in surprise, still not recognizing you… You release him and smile up at him, so glad to see him. After a few seconds of studying you, he looks at you curiously…

"===…? Is…Is that you?" he ask unsurely.

You grin and nod. He immediately hugs you and says in relief, "Oh, Thank God…" He suddenly realizes something and releases you, giving you a slight funny look.

"What happened to you?"

You blush and look down, smiling slyly… Oh, he noticed your transformation. You smile sheepishly at him again and try to make a body language gesture. You use both of your hands to make a shape of a potion and reach it to your open mouth, signaling that you've drank a potion. Terra raises his brow,

"You're…_thirsty_?" he asks, curious. You sweat drop. You shake your head and do it again. This time, you did another Potion shape with your hands and bring it up your lips and pretended that you're drinking it. Then you gesture your two fingers to your eyes and pointed at him, signaling that you drank a potion to find him. Terra looks at you unsurely,

"You drank while watching me…?" You face palm.

You shake your head again and try to repeat the same body language. This time, you added yourself. You did another 'potion' shape with your hands and reach it up your lips, 'drinking' it and gesture to your transform self before pointing your two fingers at your eyes again then at him, signaling that you drank a potion that transformed you so that you could find him. Terra looks at you questionably,

"You drank a bottle that makes you grew taller so that you can find me…?" he guesses. You sign in defeat and slowly shake your head. Terra signs too and then looks at you in apology, "I'm sorry -… I'm not good in understanding any sign languages. Maybe I'll just ask Ven and Aqua what happens…" then he froze, "Wait… Where's Ven and Aqua? Why aren't they with you? Are they _lost_?" he asks, placing his hands on your shoulder and looking at you straight in the eyes…

You frown and nod. You then look at the window outside and gesture to him that their somewhere out there… Terra seems to understand that then looks at you, "Come on. Let's start to find them. They might also be here around the streets…" he stated. You nod then followed him out of the department store.

"~"~"~"~"~"

It took you a moment to realize that you and Terra are already at the Rodeo Drive streets. You must have not recognized it before when you've started to feel weak and light headed.

You and Terra are now walking together at the Rodeo Drive streets. The both of you are in a quest to find Ven and Aqua. But he doesn't recognize that they as well, had also transformed. You can't wait to see what his reaction would be when he found out that Aqua and Ven are actually Aqu and Venus…

"Have you guys also been here before? Like, you know, trying to search for me?" he asks, looking down at you. You look at him and nod. Terra nods, "I see… I figured that you guys must have also been here." You look at him in surprise. He smiles at you, "After all, we're all suppose to be here right? To go shopping with you...?" You grin and nod.

That's right. You were all supposed to be here... The four of you spending you're time together.

Terra grins back then chuckles, "Instead, we all ended up getting _separated_… How much trouble is that?" You chuckle too. Yeah, you agree... That caused _a lot_ of trouble.

Terra looks at you, "===, where was the last time you and the two last seen each other?" he asks.

Suddenly you remember that Aqu told that you'll all meet up at _Santa Monica_ after you guys split up.

You grab Terra's hand quickly and begin to lead the way. Terra looks down at you in surprise.

"Do… Do you know where you're leading us?" he asks, giving you an unsure look.

You look at him in determination and nod. All of your memories of these places return. You finally know where the Santa Monica is… Just continue walking all the way upward to the streets of Rodeo Drive and you'll two reach there…Terra looks at you again,

"Are you taking us to the place where you guys were last seen…?" he asks.

You nod. _Yes, almost… _Santa Monica is the place where you guys _are_ suppose to be seen… Terra nods, "Okay… Lead the way."

* * *

><p>The walk from the Rodeo Drive is 700 blocks away, taking you guys at least 18 minutes to reach Santa Monica Boulevard that you remember has a lot of Pine trees at the<p>

streets.

When you two already there, you frown when you didn't see Aqu, Venus, Donkey, Puss and Horsie… You're starting to feel very worried and wondered what happen to them. A lot of questions already filled in your mind like, what happen? Do the police caught them and sent them to jail? Are they okay? They did all meet? What happened to Venus and Puss? What happened to Aqu, Donkey and Horsie?

While a lot of worried thought comes through your mind, Terra studies around the area and seems like he already recognize the place. He looks at you, "So Santa Monica huh? The last place where you guys last see each other…?" You look at him sadly and nod.

"===!"

"TERRA!" a female voice exclaims.

You and Terra quickly turn your heads to the voice and your eyes widen in surprise when you saw Aqu, Venus, Donkey, Puss and Horsie are _there_, running to you two!

"_Terra!_" was suddenly glomped by Venus at the front to Terra's surprise. "V-_Ven_?" he looks at her in surprise.

"Terra…" Venus is now hugging Terra. After a while, she falls down in one knee then slowly grabs his hand.

"It's Terra. Terra's here…" Terra looks at her in a little awkward. A tear just fell from one of Venus eyes, "We looked for you!" she exclaims, looking up at him with narrow sad eyes.

"_Shh_… It's okay Ven… I'm already here… You've got to pull it together." he stated calmly, using his other hand to pat Venus' hand. Venus looks up at him again with another sad expression,

"We looked _everywhere_ for you!" she exclaims, glaring up at him to let him know that it's hard for her to pull herself together after all the trouble.

"Uh…"

Terra turns and gives another surprising look when he saw Aqu, "Aqua…?"

Aqu flushes and looks down, nodding curtly.

Terra looks at all of you and gives you three a funny look.

"What happened to you guys?"


	11. Chapter 11

"What happened to you guys?"

Horsie came to your side and nuzzle you. You smile and pet him.

Aqu looks down in embarrass, "Well… About that…" "We try to find you Terra. We try to find the easiest way to find you so that we can find you in the easiest way…" Venus explains, after standing up then shaking him. Terra looks at you three in surprise again. "By _transforming_…?" he asks in amuse and disbelief.

The three of you sweat drop. "Actually… We got transformed by mistake…" Aqu explains, feeling uneasy.

Donkey grins and approaches Terra, "So you're _Terra_. Nice to finally meet you! My name is_ Donkey. _I was also helping your friends trying to find you" he states, smiling up at him. Terra looks down at him in surprise,

"You can _talk_?"

Donkey looks shock while the rest of you guys laugh. Donkey glares at everyone, "Why is that whenever I met a new person they'd always ask the _same_ thing! _Of course_ I can talk! I'm a special donkey. And a special donkey like me can _talk_!" he grins at the end. "An _annoying_ talking donkey…" states Puss, before walking to Terra.

He takes off his hat and bows his head "And I'm Puss…in Boots" he extends his paw, placing his hat back at his head "It's an honor to meet you"

Terra reaches down to his level and shakes hand with Puss, "Same here. By the way, _nice_ boots…" he comments, smiling down at him.

Puss looks surprise then grins at him, "_Oh_! _Gracias_ mi amigo…!" He took out his boots and the holds it up proudly. "This is the first time someone has actually commented on my boots..." he said, looking very happy, before kissing his boots.

Donkey rolls his eyes, "Excuse him. He'd never get tired of obsessing over his boots anyway…" Puss snaps his head and glare at him, "'Cause he's in love with his boots" Puss throws one of his boots at him, "Ow! What did _I_ do!"

Terra looks at the two, "_How'd _you guys get lost?" he asks. Aqu and Venus look slightly uncomfortable...

"We were chased by the police" Venus stated.

Terra's eyes widen, "_What_? Been chased by the police? What _happened_?"Aqu and Venus look at each other, "We were target as the 'thieves'… When actually Donkey here was actually the thief" states Aqu, glaring down at Donkey.

Donkey grins sheepishly at Terra, "Well… I was trying to get that _fancy_ dress for ===. And _stealing_ is the only option. Ehehehe…" Puss glares, "Which caused us _enough _trouble…" he states.

"We had to save === from the policeman who were running after us," Venus gestures to Puss and herself. "After giving him a _nice_ hard hit on the stomach…" Venus states, smiling at you in approve. You smile at her back. Terra looks at you in surprise, "You just hit a police" You smile and nod proudly. Venus laughs, "Yeah… You don't _mess_ with ===!''

Everybody laughs as you smile sheepishly.

"And _damn… _We've been chase by the police for over _4_ hours! Making it harder for us to find you…!" Donkey exclaims. "But in the end, we manage to lure those two _crack heads_ away from us by the use of Dragon's help" he grins at the end. "And just in time for us to sight jack - to find that she is already with you…" states Puss as Aqu and Venus nod. They don't know that one of the police was also chasing you…

Terra nods then crosses his arms, "But why you guys decided to transform to another gender just to find me?" he asks Aqu and Venus, forgetting about you. Aqu and Venus flush. They both laugh sheepishly, "Well… We were supposed to be drinking the 'sight jack' potion we got from the Potion Factory…" Venus started to explain as Aqu nods, "But somehow manage to drink the wrong ones" she finishes it quickly, not wanting to explain this embarrassing subject anymore.

Terra laughs, which cause Aqu and Venus to glare at him…

"I thought you guys look _great _in your transformation," he teases, looking at them from head to toe, causing Aqu and Venus to blushharder. You tried to control your laugh as your shoulders are shaking, but fail and quickly cover your mouth to hide your snickering.

"What's so _funny_?We did this for _you_...!" Venus states, glaring at him, "And look at what we've _become_" she gestures to Aqu and herself. Terra smiles, "I never asked you guys to change your looks for me."

Aqu and Venus's eyes widen as you, Donkey, and Puss chuckle.

"_What!_" they've both exclaim at the same time. Aqu crosses his arm, "_Why_ would we change our looks for you…? We love our own looks, right Ven?" he looks at Venus who nods beside him. "Yeah, why would we? I never actually planned for _this_…" she states, gesturing to her looks.

Terra laughs, "Why not? You two look _good,_" he compliments then looks at you, Donkey and Puss "_right _guys?" he winks at you three. The three of you smile and nod. "Yeah! I've told them that before but they wouldn't want to believe me" Donkey said, grinning. Puss smiles, "They've received numerous stares coming from the streets ever since yesterday…" he states.

Terra smiles in amuse and looks at the two, "Will you guys stay like that forever?"

Aqu and Venus look at him in surprise, "_Wha~? _No way! Actually, it's _almost_ seven and we're about to change back to our original selves" Venus exclaims. Aqu nods and looks at his imaginary watch, "Any seconds now…"

Terra looks at you before looking at them again, "And how about -? Is she going to change back too?"

Aqu and Venus froze then look at you, suddenly remembering you.

"Oh… She, she'll change in midnight…" Aqu explains, looking very uncomfortable at the moment. Terra looks at you in surprise, "Huh…? Midnight?" he looks at them "Why?" Even Donkey and Puss look surprise.

"What? _Midnight_?" Donkey raises his brow, "_Wait_, hold on… How come you guys didn't say anything to us about -'s transform that's going to be at midnight?" Puss nods in agree,

"Did we miss something?"

Aqu and Venus' face flush. Even your face is flush…

Aqu and Venus look at each other easily. "W-Well….."

"Well…?" Puss raises his brow as Terra and Donkey are waiting. Aqu and Venus quickly look at each other again, silently having a fighting conversation about demanding him/her to explain first... Aqu and Venus hesitantly look at the three again and stutter,

"S-So you s_ee_…" Venus begins "- h-had drank a potion th-that ~" "_that _hasa'_prophecy_' that needed to be _done_ i-if the drinker wishes to stay _permanent_~" Aqu was cut off by Venus who said it quickly,

"…after completing the task before midnight"

Terra, Donkey and Puss all raise their eyebrow, still not getting it…

"Task?" "Prophecy…?" "What are ya guys talking about?" ask Donkey in confuse, "I don't get it…" he added.

Aqu and Venus give a wry look at them three and form a sweat drop. You felt uncomfortable as them…

"What is this prophecy that needed to be complete before midnight comes…?" Puss asks, looking confuse as well. Aqu and Venus just stood there awkwardly, not saying a thing… Terra, Donkey and Puss get's even more curious.

"Well?"

"Err…I-It's ab~"

Before Aqu and Venus have the chance to continued speaking, suddenly, there was a big burst of light forming and surrounding the two them… Making you, Terra, and Puss to cover your eyes while Donkey and Horsie to shut off their eyes.

Aqu and Venus quickly look at themselves and also are wondering what's going on. Their eyes widen when they suddenly realize that their body is slowly beginning to transform from root first to tip…

The light is getting brighter and brighter which cause the rest of the five of you to slowly back away while shielding yourselves to protect your eyes against the brightness.

When the light slowly started to fade away, the five of you slowly release your arms and open your eyes. All of your eyes widen.

Aqua and Ven are _back_!

Aqua has no longer got the body of a model man and the hypnotic eyes that always made you feel weird inside whenever you stare at them… She's now back to her original slender frame, hairstyle and got that same beautiful feminine eyes again.

Ven's longer blond hair had already been gone and changed back to his original spiky hair and his male figure. They have now return back to their original genders but there's only one problem…

The cloth they are wearing is _still _there. They don't seem to mind though…

"Aqua! Ven! You're back!" called Donkey, grinning while running to them.

Aqua and Ven laugh. "We're _back_!" Ven exclaims, kneeling down to grab Donkey then twirls him around and around. "Whoooa Ven! Hahaha. You know a _hug_ will be quite enough…" Donkey said while watching the scene around him turning into blurriness. "Oh," Ven laughs in apology, "Sorry…"

Ven stops twirling him around and then hugs him, smiling. Donkey smiles, "There…Now that's better."

Puss runs to Aqua and then jumps to her. Aqua quickly caught him by her arms as he takes off his hat then purrs at her, "Oh Aqua," he gives her his wide-eyed expression while saying, "I have never felt so _happy_ in my life to see you again… Where have you been all this time?"

Aqua laughs then smiles down at him, "I'm always here" she states.

You, Terra and Horsie are watching the scene in amuse while silently snickering. It's funny to see Aqua and Ven _still_ wearing their cloth. Not their original ones…

Ven release Donkey as Aqua did the same with Puss. They both turn to you three to see you guys trying hard not to laugh.

Ven raises his brow, "What's so _funny_?" he asks.

Terra and you laugh as the horse snorts. "Your still wearing a _dress_," Terra states, gesturing to Ven's dress. Ven looks down. Terra turns at Aqua, "And I didn't expect that doublets really _suit_ you well Aqua…" he compliments, smiling at Aqua. Aqua blushes. You cover your mouth and chuckle.

"Uh…Yeah…" Ven looks at Terra, "So do I look good in a dress?" he asks, smiling while gesturing to himself. Terra and Aqua look at him in surprise while the rest of you are laughing.

Puss grins, "_Keep _the dress. You look good on it."

Ven grins and nod, "Sure… As long as I got the rest of my parts back, I wouldn't mind the dress" he states, resting his arms behind his head. Terra and Aqua laugh.

Donkey looks at all of you with a smile, "Hey! Now that we're all here, why don't we all start _shopping_?" Aqua nods, agreeing with him "Yeah, he's right… We still haven't bought any clothes for === yet. We had already wasted enough time" Everybody nods.

Ven grins, "Yeah, let's get started!" he approaches you and sling his arm on your shoulder, "My sister is already getting impatient," he smiles at you, "right, ===?" You smile and nod.

Terra then realizes something, "Wait… How are we going to know what sizes she is when she's still at her transformation?" he asks, gesturing at you.

They all look at you. You sweat drop…

Aqua and Ven look at you with wryly expression.

"Oh, she knows her sizes." Aqua said reassuringly, smiling at you all. "Um... What about we'd also buy her the same sizes she is now?" Ven suggest. You all look at him in surprise.

Ven gives a sheepish smile, rubbing his neck "Er... It might be possible that she won't change back at…eh…midnight ehehe" he states unsurely. Aqua looks at him in pure disbelief, "That can't be possible Ven. She _needs_ to uh…" she suddenly blush, after realizing what she's about to say.

Terra, Donkey and Puss gave a curious look.

"Need to what?" ask Puss, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, tell us… " Donkey usher, "Why is === gonna be transforming on midnight?" he asks, gesturing at you.

Aqua and Ven flush, including you.

Aqua and Ven look at each other uneasily, before looking at the three again. "W-Well.…"

"Well…?" Puss raises his brow, waiting along with Terra and Donkey.

Aqua and Ven quickly look at each other again. Their eyes having an argument about who'll have to explain first… Aqua and Ven quickly look at the three again and exclaims,

"It's _like_ this… The potion that === just took has~" Suddenly your stomach growls…

_Loudly_

You instantly blush and look away from everyone, hoping that nobody heard that… But when you take a slight peek, you saw that they're all looking at you… _Yikes_!

They all laugh. You blush even harder. _That was embarrassing…_ You thought while looking down.

"Oh! It looks like - is _hungry_, _**right**_ Ven…?" Aqua states with a smile, before giving Ven a secret wink.

Ven grins then nod "Y-Yeah… Right!" he laughs, "I'm hungry too! So why don't we all go and _eat_?" he suggest, looking at you all with a smile.

Donkey grins, "Yeah, good idea! I've been waiting all moment for this! I'm _starving_" he states. Terra and Puss nods, smiling. "Then let's go. I'm hungry as well. Bet you guys haven't eaten yet since I disappeared…." said Terra, smirking.

Aqua and Ven glare at him. "Of course we ate! How'd come you think that we can handle _without_ eating one day?" Ven argues as Aqua nods, agreeing.

Terra laughs, "Hey relax… I was only kidding!"

"Let's eat! Don't wanna go start shopping with an empty stomach, do we?" Donkey states, before turning around,

"I'll take the lead guys! Follow me. I know the _best_ restaurant here at Rodeo Drive!" Donkey calls, grinning at you guys before running straight to the road to reach the Rodeo Drive streets.

You all wince when you guys saw him accidentally bumps his head at one of the lamp posts then falls. Donkey shakes his head to get rid of the throbbing pain before turning his head to gives you guys a grin, "I'm okay!" he calls while standing up.

You all wince again when Donkey bumps his head for the second time, but luckily he regains his balance and gives you guys another reassuring smile, "I'm still alright!" he called while moving forward, still looking at you all, "_Don't_ worry about m~" Donkey fell again when he hit another lamp post while on his way.

This time he just lay there…in pain.

Puss shakes his head while the rest of you give Donkey a concern look.

Terra looks at you guys, "Come on. Let's go before he starts to kill himself…" he said before taking the lead. The four of you nod, including Horsie, before following him.

* * *

><p>The restaurant that Donkey picked was the same restaurant before where you've seen people eating the yummy desserts and their delicious meals. According to Donkey, the restaurant is called 208 Rodeo. He said that it is the most beautiful place for outdoor eating. Perfect place for people to view the scenery, watch people, and have a great atmosphere.<p>

So you guys decided to take the outdoor seating then were greeted by a very friendly waiter, who gave a funny look when he saw Ven in a dress, but then shrug it off and continue to serve you guys to a seat before giving you each a menu.

Before the waiter can tell what the specials are on the menu, Donkey already picked what he want and tell him his orders, not giving you guys a chance to pick. Puss rolls his eyes while the rest of you look deadpanned...

"~"~"~"~"~"

During the marvelous dinner, you finally got the chance to taste some of the desserts they got here on the restaurant. The desserts you already tried were white chocolate mousse, dark triple layer chocolate mousse and napoleon caramel. Ven also got the same desserts since he loves sweet just like you.

All of you were enjoying your meals like there's no tomorrow while admiring the view of the streets.

"~"~"~"~"~"

After the fantastic dinner and the horrifying check, you all begin to enter at one of the expensive department stores of Rodeo Drive and are about to start shopping when Donkey, once again was kick out of the store since no animals are allowed… except Puss since he's _special_.

Donkey glares at the manager and let out a protest on why he is out and Puss is inside, only to be greeted once again by a shutting door…

He groans and signs in frustrates before turning around to leave, but Horsie stops him and shakes his head in disapprove. Donkey signs once again before slumping on the ground, waiting… Looking pissed.

During the store, Terra, Aqua, Ven and Puss keeps adding clothes and dresses they selected and place them in your arms and usher for you to try it on the fitting room. You look down and sweat drop…

You arms are all covered up with dozens of clothing. It seems impossible for you to try this all at once when they keep adding more and more… Don't they realize how much expensive these are?

Before you could protest and say no to them, Aqua and Ven immediately brings you to the fitting room and close the door so that you can have some privacy, telling you that they'll wait while go finding some more dresses and clothes for you to try and wear… which causes you to immediately drop on the floor.

* * *

><p>After a long stressful minutes of struggling to fit each of the clothes and dresses they picked for you, and then reluctantly coming out to 'expose' yourself from time to time… they all give you an approving smile and thumbs up, to your horror.<p>

After that, you change back to your original 'stolen' dress and followed Aqua who leads you out of the fitting room and went to the counter where you see Terra, Puss and Ven about to purchased all of the clothing.

You watch in fear when each of the dresses and clothes where being scan one by one by the cashier on the cash register and your eyes widen when you saw the amount increase and increase…

You froze and your eyes pop out in surprise when you saw the price…

_**$10,284…!**_

_What the heck?_

Terra, Aqua, Ven and Puss seem nonchalant about it and paid the cashier while you look like you're almost about to be passing out… but luckily Aqua and Ven grabs your hand from your sides and leads you out of the store with the rest.

"~"~"~"~"~"

Now for your actual sizes… Since you aren't transformed yet to the kid version of you yet, Terra, Aqua and Ven decided to give you the chance to choose clothes and dresses on your own, since you know your own sizes.

The seven of you are now checking on each store through their window to see if they got your sizes as a kid version.

While walking on the streets, Ven noticed that most people are silently laughing at him when he passed by them. This irritated him but he tolerates it since he also wants help you buy a new clothes.

So what if he's wearing a dress? His friends are more important to him than caring on what people thinks…

When you guys already found a store that has the size of your kid version, you all get in at once.

Donkey grins when he's finally able to stay inside the store without being kicking out… He happily walks around the glamorous store and admires all of the fancy gowns, dresses, accessories, shoes, hats, and jewelries, etc…

While you are choosing the cheapest clothes you could find with the rest trying to help you, Donkey decided to view the jewelry selection of rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and watches. He notices how expensive they are…

While he was viewing, one of the employers saw him and shriek,

Donkey was kicked out once again by the store's manager since no animals are allowed. Donkey glares at the manager then quickly stood up, complaining about why he was only kicked out and not Puss, only to have a door shut in front of his face.

Horsie laughs behind him.

Donkey turns and glares at him, "What are you_ laughin'_ at? If you were the one to go inside, you'll be caught in just a split second since you're _larger_ than me" he states.

Horsie glares at him and then opens the door of the store with his mouth then pushes Donkey in, "Hey! What do ya think you're do~" "_Hey_! Didn't I say no animals are allowed!" called the manager again.

Donkey was thrown out again by the manager then hits the ground with an 'oof'

"And stay out!" said the manager, before slamming the store's door shut.

Horsie laughs behind him.

Donkey turns and glares at him,

"Oh, _shut_ up!"

* * *

><p>You finally got your own new clothes!<p>

Terra, Aqua, Ven and Puss had also picked out some clothes for you. The clothes they picked are very expensive but cute yet you don't want to hurt their feelings so you gladly accepted it.

Now you all just need to buy are some simple things for you to use such as shoes, socks, comb, brush, etc…

Donkey excitedly went to check out what kind of clothes you just bought as you are all walking to find another store to shop.

Ven notice again that more people were giving him weird stares as he walk passes by them while some are murmuring about it. That's it… He can't take this anymore!

He stops walking and clenches his fists. He looks at you guys.

"Uh…guys?" he called. The six of you turn, giving him a curious look.

"Hmm?" ask Terra.

Ven looks at you guys with a sly smile, "I uh, got to go…" he mumbles. You six gave him a curious and surprise look. "Huh? Why? Is something wrong…?" ask Aqua, looking at him in concern.

Ven nods curtly, "Yes…" He looks up at you guys and mutters, "People are _staring_…" he gestures to his dress.

All of you suddenly laugh, which causes Ven to glare,

"That's not _funny_!" he argues, clenching his fists again. You guys still laugh.

Terra smiles at him, "Ven, people are staring because you look _good_ in that dress" he states as Aqua giggles and nod.

Ven glares at them both as his face turns red, "No, they're not!"

"Then why did you say they're staring if they actually didn't?" Aqua teases.

Ven glares at her, "You just _don't _get it Aqua!" he turns around, "I'm going back to _change_…" he looks over his shoulder at you guys, "I can't stand being stared at," he frowns

"I'm sorry guys… But I had to"

"Wait!" Donkey calls, running to him.

Ven turns around and gives him a surprising look. Donkey smiles up at him, "Let me come with you!" he gestures his head around the stores, "Since I'm not allowed to enter in one of the stores, why not I guide you back to the Palace?" he offers. Ven smiles down at him

Terra looks surprise, "Palace…?" he looks at you all with his brow raise, "You guys live in a Palace?"

Aqua and Ven chuckle, Puss and Donkey grin while you and Horsie keep a straight face.

"Actually, we stayed there as a _guests_" states Aqua, smiling at Donkey and Puss as Ven nods.

Donkey grins and nods, "Yeah! They're our guests. Not only guests, but our _friends_ too!" he states. Puss smiles and nods, "Our allies…"

Terra smiles, "I see… That's good to hear. So who's the princess?"

"Princess Fiona!" Aqua, Donkey, Puss, and Ven all answered at once, smiling. "Is she nice?" Terra asks, amuse. "You'll meet her soon," stated Donkey, "And also her husband, Shrek!"

Aqua and Ven suddenly gives a wry look and form a sweat drop.

Terra smiles and nod, "I guess so" he looks at you three, "I'm proud of you guys…You managed to get a shelter without my help" he teases.

The three of you gives a sheepish laugh then nod curtly. He doesn't realize that you guys live with the ogres.

Puss approaches Ven then said, "Allow me to tag along…" he took out one of his boots then rubs his back foot "I don't think my poor aching legs can resist anymore" he gestures to his legs. Ven smiles and nod at him, "Sure. You can come. But you're paying for the ride…"

All of you laugh except Puss.

Ven slowly stops laughing when he saw Puss giving him the wide-eyed expression. Donkey looks horrified, "Oh, _no_….! No, no, no, no, no. Don't you _dare_ Puss!" he shakes his head while slowly backing away from Puss. Ven still stares at Puss in awe…

Donkey's eyes widen, "Ven! Look away from him! Don't let that _fake _expression fool ya! He's giving you the evil look!" Ven still stares at Puss in awe, completely ignoring Donkey.

"Look _away_! I'm warning you!" he warns.

Ven smiles at Puss then kneels down, petting him. Donkey's jaw drop…

"You know what? I change my mind… I'll pay for the ride instead" Ven says as he continues petting Puss, who purrs.

You, Terra and Aqua laugh in amuse.

"Thank you senor… I promise I'll repay you back" "Yeah you better be!" Donkey exclaims, giving Puss a narrow look, Puss glares at him. Ven stands up then smiles at you three "Have fun guys… Sorry that I have to leave" he gestures to his dress before looking up and laughs sheepishly, "You know…"

You, Terra, and Aqua laugh and nod.

"It's okay Ven… Go ahead. You already helped us enough" Aqua said, smiling at him. "Yeah, go ahead. Don't worry about us. We're already _grown-ups.._." Terra teases. Ven glares but didn't say anything.

Puss takes out his hat then waves it around above his head, "_Later _chicos! You three have fun!" he calls. Donkey smiles at you three and exclaims, "Bring _gifts _for us when y'all come back okay?" Ven laughs and shakes his head in amuse, he looks at you three again and waves,

"See ya guys! And make sure not to be _boring _okay Aqua?" he calls, grinning at Aqua. Aqua glares at him,

"Hey!"

Ven laughs and quickly turns, looking over his shoulder "Later!" he waves before leaving with Donkey and Puss on his side.

You, Terra, Aqua and Horsie are left behind…

Aqua crosses her arms while narrowing her eyes behind Ven's back, "Hmph. I wonder if he ever learns to _judge_…"

You and Terra give her a wryly smile…

Terra laughs, "Well… You can't blame him. Ven is Ven."

* * *

><p>The three of you continue to shop for the rest of the hours at the Rodeo Drive streets.<p>

At each store you three went, Horsie will always have to wait patiently outside until you guys come back. He has no problem waiting. He's already used to this since he's always been stuck inside the stable, waiting for someone to ride on him so that he could blend in with the crowd.

While you guys are inside the store, busy shopping for your needs, Horsie decided to flirt with some Horses that pulls a carriage, so that he can make his time more valuable…

He saw two horses approaching this way, one brown mare and one white stallion. He decided to flirt with the mare…

When the two horses are near, Horsie quickly approaches the mare one then makes a rearing sound to get her attention. The mare looks at him in surprise then gives him a weird look. Horsie quickly rubs his head all over her side then went to her head.

The mare gave him a wide-eyed stare in disbelief then stops moving the carriage, causing the stallion beside her to give her the _look_. Then he sees why… He glares at Horsie when he sees him flirting with his sister…

Horsie yelps in surprise when the stallion suddenly lunges at him and rears in anger.

The driver almost loses his balance but quickly steadies himself. He glares at the stallion then pulls the rope to steady the two horses. He also gives Horsie a glare before tugging the rope to move the horses again.

Horsie stares at them wide-eyed…. That was unexpected…

_**After 4 minutes…**_

Horsie just saw a single horse that's pulling a carriage and decided to go flirt with him. Instead of running or approaching him, he'll just wait until the horse gets near him so that he can start to flirt.

After few seconds, the tovero stallion horse is now heading towards him so now Horsie begins to do his thing…

He stood up straight and starts to rear in delight to attract the stallion's attention. The stallion looks up at him but didn't have any reaction…

Horsie stops rearing then grins widely at him. The stallion just gave him a weird look.

Horsie then runs excitedly to his side and follows him. The stallion just ignores him and keeps walking. Horsie continues to grin at him while the stallion just move forward, not caring who that horse is…until, he stiffen when he felt Horsie beginning to smell his 'end'.

His eyes widen when Horsie starts to lick 'it'. He rears in anger and then bucks him away.

Horsie fell on the ground and looks up in hurt to see the stallion glaring down at him then dust him off before continue to walk away…

_Ouch_…

_**After 20 minutes…**_

Horsie is bored… He hates to admit it, but he's terrible at flirting… How is he able to get a girlfriend or boyfriend if none of the horses likes him?

He frowns and decided to wait patiently for you three to get out of the store.

Then out of nowhere, he heard a loud neighing sound coming from a distance… When he looks up, his heart starts to beat faster. From the distance, he saw the most beautiful white mare he has ever seen…

He watch in awe as the beautiful white mare is heading this way with a very handsome man with blond hair riding on her.

Is this love at first sight…?

What if….What if that mare doesn't lo~ _like _him?

He stiffened in surprise when he saw the mare just winks at him. His heart race… Did she just…?

Did she just _flirt _athim?

Horsie grins and then runs excitingly to her. The mare smiles at him then stops moving to the blond haired man's surprise. She and Horsie begin to flirt by nickering and rubbing each other's head, not caring about the rider who's staring in disbelief at the two.

The blond hair man glares and then squeezes both of his legs on the mare's side to get her to attention to move. But the mare just continued flirting with the horse.

He growls in frustrate and rolls his eyes, "Ugh, for the love of ~!" he kicks the horse with his feet this time, "_Move_ Marely!"

Marely the mare just ignores him and continues to rub her head against Horsie's…

The man grits his teeth while clenching his fists. He then draws out his sword from his belt then threateningly points it at Horsie.

"You there!"

Horsie froze as he stares at the sharp pointed edge of the man's sword in fear. The man narrows his eyes at him, "Get out of here…! And don't you dare even _touch _her, unless you want this to touch _you_…" he gestures to his sword.

Horsie gulps and slowly backs away… The mare looks at him sadly as the psychopathic man turns her around then walks away. Horsie frowns…

Marely turns her head at him and give him a last wink. Horsie smiles and winks back at her. The man stares at the two in disgust and quickly the pace of the mare by squeezing her sides.

"I don't think we can shop anymore guys… Our hands are already occupied" Aqua laughs, gesturing to all of your hands that are holding many shopping bags.

You and Terra laugh and agree, "Yeah… Don't want our hands to drop, do we?" he jokes. The three of you were already done buying all what you need and are ready to go back to the Palace.

Aqua smiles and pats Horsie, "Thanks for waiting… Now could you let - ride on your back while Terra and I take the carriage? We're running out of money" she states, giggling at the end. Horsie grins and nods, bending down for you to hop on his back. You gladly did and hold on the rope. You don't need to control him… He knows where to go and you trust him anyway.

Terra and Aqua smile as they get inside the carriage and told the driver to follow Horsie, who's now leading the way to Shrek and Fiona's Palace…

* * *

><p><em>**Back at the Palace**<em>

"Is this where you guys stayed?" Terra asks as he studies the Palace in awe.

You and Aqua nod with a smile.

"Aqua! You're back!" someone suddenly exclaims. You all turn your heads to see Pinocchio, who's waving frantically at you guys from the courtyard. Aqua smiles then nod.

Terra raises his brow, "He can…_talk_?"

You cover your mouth and chuckle.

Pinocchio runs to you three and grins at Terra, "And you must be _Terra_! Ven, Donkey and Puss already told us that they found you! My name is Pinocchio," he extends his wooden arm, "Nice to finally _meet_ you!"

Terra smiles and took his hand, shaking hands with his, "Nice to meet you too… Were you transformed too?" he asks. Pinocchio looks surprise at that question, "Transformed? No! This is how I was born!" he gestures to his wooden body, "I'm a _special_ wooden boy who can do some cool moves" he grins, starting to demonstrate a wooden robot dance. (_**Inserts disco music**_)

He twists his head around… did a robot dance… then twists his arms, did another robot dance… then rotates his whole body around.

He stops spinning and then looks at you three while trying to regain his balance, "A-And I'm proud to be a wooden b-boy!" he states before collapsing down, his wooden nose grows a few inches taller at the same time.

You guys heard a familiar voice…

"So that's why girls, if I were you, I would be extra care~"

The three of you turn and look in surprise when you guys saw Master Eraqus walking down the staircase while talking to the two ladies on his sides.

"Master Eraqus!" both Terra and Aqua exclaim in surprise.

Master Eraqus froze then quickly removes his arms around both of the ladies' waist. He smiles at you three, "Terra! Aqua! ===! You guys _made_ it!" he calls, waving.

The three of you hurriedly went to him, "Master, have you waited for us too long?" Terra asks. Master Eraqus laughs then shakes his head, "Waited? I've been _around _here for too long…" he stated.

The three of you look surprise… "Huh?" asks Aqua, raising her brow, "You mean… you've been here all along?" He nods which causes the three of you to look at him in surprise and disbelief.

Master Eraqus smiles then place his hands on the ladies' shoulder "Guys, I would like you to meet Snow White and Cinderella…The princesses who I was talking about who offered me to stay in their castle" he gestures to the two who smiles and wave.

"Hi! Nice to meet you guys" greets Snow White, "You must be Eraqus' students…" states Cinderella.

Terra and Aqua nod and smile.

Master Eraqus suddenly notices you and his eyes widen, "===? What happened to you?" he asks, surprise. You sweat drop.

Terra and Aqua smile wryly, "Er… We thought that uh… maybeit'll be _fun_ to have her transformed for a while so that she can er… _experience _what's uh…" Aqua quickly looks at Terra for help,

Terra grins sheepishly, "What's it like to be _part_ of a medieval _culture_… Yeah…"

Master Eraqus smiles, "Oh… I see…" Terra and Aqua sign in relief… He turns to you, "So have you enjoyed?" he asks you, smiling. You smile and nod at him. _Of course!_

Terra and Aqua smile, glad that Master Eraqus believes the false truth…

Shrek and Fiona appeared from the staircase. When Fiona saw Terra, she gasps, "Oh! We have another visitor!" she exclaims in surprise. She quickly looks at Shrek, "Quick Shrek, go _greet _him!" she usher. Shrek smiles, "Is that Terra?" he asks with his eyebrow raise.

"Oy! Terra! Good to be seeing you…" Shrek greets, waving while approaching him.

Terra looks at him in surprise. An _ogre…? _Is he…

Shrek extends his arm at him, "My name is Shr-

"_Shreeek!" _a voice yells.

You all turn your heads to see a white horse running this way with a blond haired man riding her. Horsie's eyes widen.

The blond haired man quickly dismounted on the horse then draws out his sword, aiming it at Shrek. Shrek looks surprise then glares, "You _again_?"

Pinocchio slowly sat up then gasp when he saw what's ahead…

"_Prince Charming?_" he exclaims before collapsing again.

Prince Charming glares at Shrek "For nearly _20 years_ I have vowed myself to become a King and rule the Kingdom to gain an honor for the sake of my beloved father…" he started,

"_Lier!_" Pinocchio pointed up before collapsing again.

Prince Charming glares at him, "Shut up Pinocchio!" he exclaims before turning to look at Shrek again who raises his eyebrow at him, "You have a _father_…?" he asks in disbelief. Prince Charming grits his teeth, "_Of course_ you~" "Then _where_ is he?" interrupted Shrek, smirking.

Prince Charming clenches his fists, "Arggh! It's none of your business!" he raises his sword, "For now, I have to _finish_ you for after all you've done and taken everything away from me!"

All of your eyes widen.

"Goodbye Shrek! See you at the burial!" Prince Charming laughs before running to him. Fiona gasps

"_Shrek!_"

The three of you saw Terra also running towards Shrek. Eraqus and Aqua both exclaims,

"Terra!"

Shrek doesn't move from his spot… He just stood there in surprise. Your heart race as Snow White and Cinderella scream…

You clench your eyes shut when you saw Terra and Prince Charming went to Shrek. You heard a clashing sound…

You took a peek and saw Prince Charming lying on the ground while Terra is standing protectively in front of Shrek, holding a uh… _What_ is that? Key sword thing…?

Prince Charming's sword flew through the air then fell right next to Pinocchio, who was about to sit up but then collapse in shock again…

Shrek laughs, "Oh, don't you mean… _I'll_ see ya at the burial!" he pointed up at Prince Charming, who growls in defeat. All of you laugh. Terra smiles and then makes his Key sword disappears…

Prince Charming glares up at Terra, "H-How…dare…y-you…!" he slumps again. Shrek smiles at Terra, "Thanks Terra! You saved me back there. I didn't know that you are a _warrior_…" he states.

You, Eraqus and Aqua laugh. Terra smiles at Shrek, "Well, it's my job… I save people"

Shrek laughs, "Yeah… Cause that's what _warriors_ do" he looks at the guards, "Guards, take this uninvited guest to the dungeon… We didn't invite him" he commanded.

The guards immediately went to Prince Charming and grab his arms, bringing him to the dungeon. "It's not over Shrek!" he calls, "You hear? I'll still be the _future_ King of the land of Far Far Away and rul~ Hey!" one of the guards hit him, "Oh shut up! You say that over and over again. Don't you ever quit?" one guard said, "Yeah… You fail so many times. Give it up man!" said another guard beside him. Prince Charming glares at them both, "_Real _man never quits!" he hiss, "I'll still fight for my _rights_ and not let an ogre win against me or ~" he continues to rambles on as the guards take him away.

Pinocchio finally sit up straight and ask, "Is it over…?"

Fiona runs to Shrek, "Shrek! Are you alright?" she asks, worried. Shrek smiles at her and nod, holding her waist, "Don't worry Fiona! Everything's perfectly fine…" he looks at you, Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua "Why don't we all go have a _party_ before you guys go back home?" he suggest smiling.

Pinocchio suddenly appears right next to you guys and grins, "Yeah! I love parties! Let's go!"

Eraqus smiles and nod, before looking at you three, "Why not we had a little more fun before we go guys? You know what they say, life is short…"

Terra and Aqua look at him wryly while you smile. You agree… Life is certainly short.

You almost collapse when you saw Horsie and the other horse are flirting with each other.


	12. Chapter 12

"What? You mean… you known Shrek and Fiona ever since you've been here?" asks Terra in disbelief,

Eraqus smiles then nod.

"But why master? Why didn't you tell us earlier so that we didn't have to go look around for hours to find a shelter…" states Aqua as Terra nods.

All of you are now in a Far Far Away Idol, waiting for the performance to start on the stage as you guys are having a mingle time. There are plenty of unfamiliar guests here too. Some of them are Fiona's friends and relatives, while some are just random guests who'd love to have a party.

Aqua had changed back to her original clothes, dismissing her doublets and decided to give it to Prince Charming since she pitied him for not being able to bring his own clothes before going to the dungeon.

"Well, you see guys… there are plenty of Castles and Residences on the town to choose from. I hate to pick a Palace that may come to your dislike… So I decided to let you guys choose on your own as an easier solution" Eraqus stated simply, before drinking his wine again.

The three of you look at each other in disbelief… Was that really his plan?

"Hey guys! _How's_ the drink?" Shrek called from the other side of the table, hanging with his wife and kids.

"Err, uh, great! Great! We love it!" Aqua called, raising her drink while smiling wryly. Terra laughs then raises his drink higher, "_Brilliant_! Tasted great!" he called.

Shrek and Fiona grin and then raise their glass to match with Terra and Aqua, "Good! Well then, let's have a cheer shall we?" called Shrek.

You watch as Shrek, Fiona, Eraqus, Terra, Aqua, Snow White and Cinderella all made a "Cheers!" before drinking. Aqua looks hesitant, but she forces herself to drink so that she could not embarrass herself from what you can see…

You almost laugh when you saw her grimacing at the taste, but luckily you control it.

"Allo everybody!" called a familiar French voice. You all turned to see Monsieur Hood and his merry men also enter the Far Far Away Idol, waving around at everyone as they make their way to the empty seats.

"Hey, Robin Hood…!" Shrek greets. Robin Monsieur Hood and the merry men look at Shrek and waves at him

"Nice to see you guys decided to come join the party!" Shrek calls, grinning.

Robin Hood smiles and nod, "No matter what and where the party is, I'm always in the house my friend!" he states as his merry men cheer.

You stiffen when you saw Monsieur Hood winks at you.

That guy freaks you out…

You all jump when Pinocchio pops out of nowhere and decided to sit with you guys, "Hey guys!" he smiles, waving at you all. "Mind if I sit here?" he asks.

"No! Go ahead." Aqua said, smiling at him. Pinocchio grins and then looks at table, "Is that what I think it is…?" he asks, looking at the bottle of wine.

Eraqus smiles and nod, "Yeah, wanna have some?" he offers. Pinocchio stares at him wide eyed then quickly shakes his head, waving his wooden arms frantically, "No thanks! I think I had enough beer for today…" he states, smiling sheepishly.

His nose grows in inches. His eyes widen.

Eraqus smiles at him evilly. "Enough beer eh…? How about just a few drinks to relief your stress?"

Pinocchio gulps and shakily shakes his head, "I-I don't think I felt any stress on my nerves today hehehe…" his nose grows another inches, "You see… I feel completely normal today and I don't think I need any medical examination" his nose grows again. His wooden nose is just a few centimeters away from Eraqus nose.

Pinocchio twitch, "Okay! I'm sorry, I _lied_! I didn't actually experience drinking any beer for my entire life and I'm planning to try it right now!" he confesses as his nose slowly starts to shrink after each sentence.

You guys laugh.

Pinocchio starts to grab an empty glass from the table then grabs the bottle of wine to pour on it until it is half full. You all look at him in surprise when he begins gulping it all down.

"Wow…" states Aqua.

Before Pinocchio is almost done, he was suddenly hit by the head by an ugly woman who glares down at him in disbelief. "Are you actually trying to get yourself drunk even when the party hasn't started yet?"

You, Terra and Aqua jump at her male voice.

Pinocchio glares at her, "Hey! What's the big idea?"

"Hey Doris, come sit with us!" Eraqus greets. Doris smiles at him and nod, before sitting down right next to Cinderella and Snow White who greet her.

Aqua whispers to Terra's ear, "_What happened to her voice…? Is she a transgender?_"

Terra snickers and then shrug, "I don't know… Why don't you ask her?" he ushers.

Doris raises her eyebrow at him, "Ask what?"

Terra froze then looks at her wryly. Aqua giggles. Terra smiles sheepishly, "Oh, uh…" he suddenly realizes something,

"Hey, where's Ven? Why we hadn't seen him yet?" asks Terra.

"Yeah, you're right. Where is he?" asks Aqua, looking around for him.

"Oh Ven, he said that he has a~" Snow White was muffled by Cinderella, who grins sheepishly at you guys "~He'll be here any minute! Don't worry, he just needs to~" Cinderella was interrupted by a loud stereo

"_Ladies and gentlemen_…"

You all turn to see Wolf standing on the stage while holding a microphone. All silence at once…

"Is that Wolf?" Aqua asks, raising her brow. Terra looks at him funny, "Why is he in a dress?"

"_May I present_…"

The curtain of the slowly begins to open.

"_Our three performers_…"

You, Terra, and Aqua's eyes widen in surprise when you guys saw who's on the stage. Eraqus just smiles as he continues drinking.

The stage light begins to lit, showing the three figures standing on the stage with their backs facing towards you all audiences. On the dark corner of the stage, you all can see the three pigs standing in front of the drums, ready to use them.

"_Ven, Donkey and Puss_...!"

_**(Freaky-Jesse McCartney) **_

Wolf quickly went to the other side of the stage and play as the DJ, handling the lightning and mixers.

The three pigs begin to play the drums and make a beat while the three on the stage nods their head along the rhythm.

"_May the ball start, let's sing!"_ called Wolf after 11 seconds.

Ven twirls around, "_Now don't you even act like…you don't wanna get up" _he points at you all, while holding the microphone in his other hand.

"Heh, get on up**!" **Donkey calls as he jumps beside him, gesturing to you all to stand up. You all look at each other.

"_You better get out on the dance floor…Show me what you got" _Ven ushers for you all to get up then points at the ground, before smiling at you all.

"I wanna see what ya got, girl**!" **Donkey pointed at a random girl who sitting close to him.

Ven went and kneel down next to Puss then shared the microphone with him, _"'Cause I don't even want too much,__Just for y'all to understand…" _they both sing.

Ven stands up _"A party ain't a party if I'm not in the party so I need to see some hands…"_

"Get up right there!" Donkey calls,

Ven begins to perform a dance moves while moving to the center of the stage, _"All I really need to know,__is that you came to the party to enjoy yourself"_

All of you are now dancing wildly on the ground…

"_You left your stress and your worries __back at home on the shelf, and let's get freaky…"__  
><em>_"Hey…" "Oh…" _

"Get up right there!" Donkey jumps beside him while grinning. _"Freaky_(Yeah!),"they said at the same time,

"_Hey_(Yeah!)"

"_Oh_(Yeah!),"

"_Hey…"_ "Get up right there!"

You saw Shrek and Fiona are twirling around, holding hands while laughing.

"_Freaky_(Yeah!)…"

"_Hey_(Yeah!)," _"Oh_(Yeah!)"_ "Hey"_

"Get up right there!"

You were amaze by the guys' performance… They really _own_ that stage!

"_Freaky_(Yeah!)…"

"_Hey_(Yeah!)"_"Oh_(Yeah!),"_ "Hey,"_

"Get up right there!"

Robin Hood suddenly grabs your hands then twirls you around with the rest of the merry men who's doing the same with the others.

The three of them on the stage did a different dance moves as they move slightly apart from each other.

"_Freaky_(1, 2,)"

" 3, 4,"

"_Freaky_ (5, 6)…"

"Let's go..!" calls Wolf, raising his arm up then points at the three

The three of them on the stage did the same dance moves as they move right next to each other.

"Aw!" Donkey jumps at the center of the stage as the two twirls around at his sides.

"Get on up!" Donkey went to the edge of the stage and pointed at the few people who are still sitting on the chairs

"Babey!" He exclaims, twirling around while moving backward as the two moves forward,

"_Make sure the DJ puts this song on…__and turn it up" _Ven points at Wolf while facing forward at the dancing audiences then moves his hand up, looking up

"Check it up, girl!" Donkey grins at one of the ladies at the corner, _"__And keep it moving all night long…Till the sun come up" _Ven looks up at the sky while extending his hand up,

"_Oh, oh, oh, oh" _Ven twist to the left and right while moving his hand around,

"_All I really need to know," _he jumps at the center of the stage_ "is that you came to the party to enjoy yourself" _he points at you audiences while walking forward

"_You left your stress and your worries back at home on the shelf" _

"_And let's get freaky…"_

Aqua saves you from Robin Hood and the merry men then quickly leads you back to your original place with the guys.

"_Hey, oh," _ "Get up right there!"

You and Pinocchio hold hands while twirling around and around, almost hitting Doris, Cinderella and Terra

"_Freaky_(Yeah!)_"_

"_Hey_(Yeah!),_ oh_(Yeah!)_,__hey,"_

"Get up right there!"

The both of you accidentally release each other and hit your back heads on the ground, causing Eraqus, Terra, Aqua, and Snow White to rush at you while Doris and Cinderella to rush at Pinocchio

"_Freaky_(Yeah!)_…"_

"_Hey_(Yeah!),"

"_Oh_,(Yeah!)"

"_Hey,"_ "Get up right there!" (2x)

The three of them on the stage did the same dance moves as they move right next to each other.

"_Freaky_(1, 2)"

"3, 4~"

"_Freaky_(5, 6)…"

"Let's goo..!" Wolf points at them

Ven, Donkey and Puss begin to do a slow robot dance,

"_Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah_(aw!), _ah,_

_ah, ah, ah, ah…"_

Aqua twirls you around before bringing you to Terra who does the same thing

"Get on up!"

"_Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah_(This you're show!), _ah, ah, ah, _

_ah, ah…"_

You are now dancing with Eraqus

"Aaaw!"

Ven suddenly hops down on the ground, _"__All I really need to know," _he approaches you while extending his hand at you,_ "is that you came to the party to enjoy yourself" _

"_You left your stress and your worries__back at home on the shelf,_

_and let's get freaky…" _he smiles at you then grabs your hand

To your surprise, he twirls you around quickly while saying

"_Hey," _

" _oh," _

Donkey glares at him from the stage "Get up fool!"

"_Freaky_(Yeah!)" Ven continues to twirl you around with speed, you almost fell

"_Hey_(Yeah!), _oh_(Yeah!), _hey_,"

"Get up right there!"

Ven delivers you to Aqua before rushing back to the stage

"_Freaky_(Yeah!),"

"_Hey_(Yeah!),"

"_oh_(Yeah!),"

"_hey_(Yeah!),"

"Get up right there!"

He continues to sing and dance on the stage with Donkey and Puss

"_Freaky_(Yeah!),"

"_Hey_(Yeah!),_ oh_(Yeah!), _hey,"_

"Get up right there!"

"_Freaky__(_1, 2,)", " 3, 4," "_Freaky_(5, 6)…"

"_And let's get freaky…"_

"_Hey," "oh," "hey,"_

"Get up right there!"

"_Freaky_(Yeah!),"

"_Hey_(Yeah!),"

"_oh_(Yeah!)"

"_hey_(Yeah!)"

"Get up right there!"

"_Freaky_(Yeah!),"

"_Hey_(Yeah!)," _"oh_(Yeah!)_," __"hey_,"

"Get up right there!"

You all continue to dance happily while enjoying the performance

"_Freaky_(1, 2,)"

" 3, 4,"

"_Freaky_(5, 6)…"

"Let's goo..!" Wolf called as he and the three pigs rush to Ven, Donkey and Puss and all of them did a pose. Gingy pops up from Wolf's pocket and grins at the audience while spreading his arms.

You all clap at their performance and cheer.

You were having a peaceful sleep in your bedroom…

You were pretty tired from spending the rest of the freaking hours having a non-stop freaking party with the guys. As soon as you five return back to the Land of Departure, you immediately came to your room and collapse on your bed…

You were half asleep when you heard your bedroom door slowly starts to open carefully…

You just lie there, too tired to bother what's going on at that moment, you only wanted to sleep.

You then heard faint footsteps slowly making its way to your bed. Too tired to open your eyes…

You felt your bed shift a little then stop. You were half conscious at that moment, and also in a dreaming state. After a few seconds, you heard a voice whispers to your ears,

"_-, remember what I said yesterday that I would do anything just to keep your transform permanent…?" _

You nod unconsciously, thinking that it's an angel talking to you in a dream.

You heard the angel take a deep breath, then afterwards, another whisper, "_Forgive me -…. I, I have to do this…" _

You felt your face being cupped and felt some air coming through your face. You slowly open your sleepy eyes to see what's going on…

Your eyes instantly widen when you saw Ven slowly leaning to your face with his eyes close, almost about to k-k-k-_kiss _you!

_**What is he doing?**_

Your heart race as you continue to stare at him with wide-eyed as he get's d_angerously _close to your face.

Suddenly, the door to your bedroom opens,

"Ven?" Aqua called, about to enter your room to check if Ven is here…

Ven immediately jolts up, staring at the door in surprise

The clock strikes at 12…

A burst of light starts forming around you, causing Ven and Aqua to shield their eyes with their arm…

_To be continued ~*~*~*~*~*_


	13. Chapter 13

You yawn after waking up from your sleep and then just lay there still…

You can't help it. The bed feels so comfortable… So soft, so welcoming, so… _heavenly made_. Maybe you should sleep more. It's still early.

You look at the big window at your left and can't help but admire the view of the scenery outside. Looks like today's a nice day… You yawn again. But you're still sleepy… Maybe a little more sleep won't hurt the day without your presence. You decided to go sleep again for just a few more hours…

You close your eyes and snuggle next to your pillow, slowly about to be in a state of half consciousness...

...

...

...

"_Good morning ===__!_"

You jump in surprise from your bed and look up to see Ven grinning at you while holding a small round plate of… are those _ice cream_?

Ven approaches next to you then places the plate of ice cream and the glass of water on the round table then smiles at you,

"I made you some breakfast… Hope you like it" he gestures to the plate with his hand. You look down and almost _**drool**_**… **That is the most heavenly sight you've ever seen…

The plate consists of three scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. He also include toppings of sprinkles all over to make it 10x _sweeter_.

Ven chuckles, "It's one of my _specials_… So enjoy" You smile and nod at him in thanks. You grab the spoon and begin to eat. Ven watches you.

"Oh! I forgot to mention, Terra and Aqua will be out for a mission today 'till the entire afternoon…" he smiles, "So that means…" he grins and points at himself, "I'll be taking in charge of you!"

The door of your room opens then Aqua came in, "Good morning -," she smiles at you then look at Ven, "V~

Ven quickly looks at you then smiles, "When you're done, just bring them to the kitchen or leave it here, I'll take care of it later." He turns then walks to the door, Aqua frowns at him, trying to reach him with her hand but Ven quickly move out of the way

"Wa~

Ven looks over his shoulder and smiles at you, "Hope you like your breakfast" then he left.

Aqua just stood there, looking at him sadly as he walks away. You sit there in confuse. Why is he ignoring her…?

Aqua looks at you then smiles sadly, "If that's too much sweet for you, just let me know. I can replace another breakfast for you…" she offers.

You quickly shake your head, indicating that 'its fine', you don't mind, you love sweet while smiling reassuringly at her.

Aqua smiles the real smile this time and nod, "Okay, but if you change your mind, just let me know. I'll be over at my room…" You nod as you watch her left then close the door.

When it's all clear, you quickly begin to dig in your ic~ _breakfast_, after secretly hiding all the drool you had kept during their presence.

* * *

><p>After your sweet breakfast, you brought your empty plate and glass back to the luxurious kitchen and left it on the sink.<p>

Now what to do…?

Go back to sleep and have another peaceful tenderness of heavenly softness? No… You already had breakfast and you don't want to waste Ven's sweet effort on making you one. It's kinda rude…

But you're still sleepy… You need something to keep you awake, but what?

Then you got an idea…

You went back to your room and grab your towel, clothes and toothbrush. You haven't brush your teeth since the 'incident'. You decided to spend some time at the bathtub to 'freshen up' a bit and relax…

What else is there to do?

You left your room and shut the door.

You're now inside the same bathroom that Aqua had previously sent you. You turn on the faucet from the bathtub then went to grab some bottles on the shelves. You sniff each one to check which ones the shampoo, bubble bath, lavender oil and conditioner.

But the problem is… you don't know which's which.

You turn to see that the bathtub is almost filled yet you still weren't sure what bottles belong for the hair, air, and water. Too bad you can't read yet…

Oh well, you can guess.

You turn of the faucet then about to strip off when the door opens…

"Oh! I-I'm sorry! I di~"

You quickly turn around in surprise and saw Ven who stood frozen at the door while still gripping on the knob. He laughs sheepishly, "I didn't know that you're here! Ehehe," he quickly locks the door then turns around, "Don't forget to lock the door! Have fun!" he called then left, closing the door.

Your face is red the whole time. That was _embarrassing..._

You feel dumb for forgetting to lock the door.

"~"~"~"~"~"

Now you're just chilling in the tub with your arms resting on the edge, enjoying the feeling of the warm sensation engulfing you.

You close your eyes and sign in relax… This is the most intense feeling you ever had…

But there's something missing…

You open your eyes then realize what it is.

You forgot to add bubbles and lavender oil. You felt dumb again…

You sit up straight then reach for the bottles behind your head. You open each bottles with a flick then begin to sniff one…

This must be the 'bubble bath'… You pour the bottle which you presume to be the bubble bath on the warm water. After placing it back on the tiles, you grab another bottle and then sniff.

You're positive that this is the conditioner since it smells so _good_. So you place it back to the floor, separating it from the other two then grab another one. *Sniff*

You take a long sniff again… This could be the lavender oil since you know that lavender smells like oil. So you pour it on the water before putting it back on the floor. You grab the last bottle left which you don't have to smell it anymore since you know it's already a shampoo. You apply a small amount of liquid shampoo on your palm before throwing the bottle back on the floor.

You rub your palms before setting it on your hair.

You want to try to imitate how Aqua did to your hair by rubbing and massaging it. So you start to try it…

"~"~"~"~"~"

After a few minutes of rubbing and massaging your hair, you notice that the water hasn't bubbled yet and the air around still smells normal… What's going on? Is there a mistake you just made?

No… You're sure you did it right. Besides, the bottle you're just using is definitely a shampoo since~ _Wait_, why is your hair full of bubbles…?

You look at your hands and notice that you saw more bubbles instead. You gave a strange look…

That is weird…Since when does shampoo form a lot of bubbles?

You lower yourself down then raise your head, trying to get rid of the bubbles and the shampoo on your head while rinsing it. You reach for the hand shower and turn it on, then begin to scrub your face and your hair to get rid of the bubbles.

You turn it off when your face is clear again then reach for the bottle which you presume to be the 'conditioner'. Instead of pouring the conditioner to your hand, you decided to pour it on your hair to be fast.

After applying it on your hair, you throw the bottle back to the floor and begin to scrub your hair. You inhale deeply… You love the aroma of the conditioner. It almost smells like lavender… But why does it smell like lavender? Is this a lavender conditioner?

No matter. You decided to just chill for a while as you begin to sway your hands within the water to form bubbles…

_**After 32 minutes_…**

After draining out the bathtub and then drying yourself, you are now brushing your teeth, still disappointed that no bubbles or aroma were form during your bath time. There must be something wrong with the bottles… Perhaps it's already expired?

You gargle with the mouthwash then spit.

After changing to your new clothes, you notice how good you smell… You inhale yourself deeply, admiring your scent. You like the bottles they chose…

You grab your previous dress and towel before leaving the luxurious bathroom. When you grab the knob and were about to unlock it, you suddenly realize something…

You forgot to use the _soap._

_**27 minutes later…**_

You went outside of the castle just in time to see Terra activates his pauldron on his left shoulder. And in a flash of light, you saw him transformed into wearing an armor and then he summons a ….uh…_? _You had no idea what it's called, all you know is that he jumps on top of it then uses it to hover in the air...

You watch in fascinate… You also want to have _that. _It looks pretty cool.

You almost trip on the steps as you are watching Terra who's beginning to ascend through the air. Ven slams the door open,

"_Goodluck _Terra!" he calls while waving his hand.

You trip.

Your eyes widen as you found yourself about to face the most painful events you'll ever make…

Ven quickly saw you then hurriedly make his way to you…

You wonder if you can borrow Aqua's face for a while until your face is cured so that no one had to look at your twisted face.

You close your eyes as you prepare your poor face that is about to get hit by the strong impact.

Ooooh _sshhiiiiii~_

"Got ya,"

You slowly took a peek…

Your eyes widen when you found out that your face is dangerously close to the marble steps in just 4 inches away.

Ven quickly make you stood up straight then kneels down till he reaches your level, placing his hands in your shoulders. "I'm _soo_ so_ soo _so _sorry_ -!" he shakes you wildly, which makes you a little bit dizzy since he's doing it too fast.

He looks at you in apology, "I didn't mean to let you fall…!" he quickly checks around you by turning you left then right, "Are you _alright_? You didn't get hurt, did you?" you quickly shake your head to let him know that you're okay, only to make you feel even dizzier.

Ven leans in to sniff your hair, "Why…"

You look up, only to accidentally hit his chin. "Ah!" he yelps as he bumps his bum on the steps, before quickly rubbing his chin, "Yeah… I deserve that"

Your eyes widen and you quickly shake your head again to indicate that it was an accident. That you didn't mean to hit his chin…

Ven laughs then ruffles your hair quickly, "I was only _kidding_…" You sign in relief then smile.

The door of the castle opens and the two of you look up.

Aqua sees the two of you then giggles, "You'd really make a great babysitter" she compliments. Eraqus appears beside her then smiles at you two.

"Good morning -! Glad to see you looking lively (_lovely_) today" Eraqus greets.

Ven picks you up in his arms then greets him for you, "Your looking 'lively' as well Master Eraqus…" he chuckles then smiles at you, "Isn't he?''

You smile and nod.

Eraqus laughs as Aqua smiles,

"You know what to do Ven, while the three of us our out, you'll be looking after her until we come back,"

Ven nods, "Understood. You don't have to tell me. I'll always know what's and what's not going on around here without even knowing" he smiles.

Eraqus and Aqua looks at each other in confuse with raise brow.

They slowly look back at Ven. "Er… right. Anyway, while we are out, y~

"I know I know, I'm not allowed to go outside unless I get your permission. Can I…?" he looks at him with pleading eyes.

"No," Eraqus smiles, shaking his head, "I'm sorry Ven, I don't think you're older enough (Ven glares) to take greater responsibility of babysitting while travelling around the world at the same time." He gestures to you, "It might bring her risk"

"But what are we going to _do_ here? Just sit here outside and wait until the next day comes around? What are we, damsels in distress?"

Aqua quickly covers her mouth to hide her chuckling while Eraqus stares at him in shock.

"It's not what I meant… What I mean is, ~"

"That we're too _young_ to go out? Am I right?" he raises his brow.

Eraqus looks at him uneasy before hesitating, "Y-Yes… You see," "Master, I think it's time for us to go…" Aqua interrupts, after sensing the tension in the air. Eraqus looks at her and nod, "Right."

They both walk down steps until they pass by the two of you. You and Ven watch.

Eraqus stops then turns, "Oh, and Ven,"

Ven turns with you as he looks at him expectedly,

"Don't try to sneak behind our backs. We'll know what's and what's not going on here even without knowing what's going on…"

This time you and Ven looks at each other in confuse before raising your brows at him.

Eraqus and Aqua smile in satisfaction.

"See you guys" Aqua called, before turning her back to you two and followed Eraqus.

Ven sniff at you,

"Your hair smells like lavender…"

* * *

><p>You and Ven are now the only ones left in the Land of Departure.<p>

Both of you are now sitting outside on the fields where Ven often used to fall asleep at whenever he's bored out of his mind…

Not only he gets to be bored alone, he also gets to share his bored with you. At least his not alone anymore… Both of you sign in bored.

Ven plops down on his back then spread his arms, looking up at the sky. He inhales deeply before exhaling again. He looks at you then smiles, "You know… I think you made a big mistake back there. The ones where you were suppose to use for your hair and skin, I feel like you used it for the 'bath' instead" he chuckles.

Your eyes widen as you quickly turn to look at him. _Say what_?

Ven laughs this time before grinning up at you, "Let's just say you got the 'wrong' bottle."

You froze. _You mean_...?

"You must have mistaken the lavender oil as the conditioner… don't you?" he smiles, watching your reaction in amuse.

You instantly flush in embarrassment.

So _that's_ why the bubbles won't form in the water and the air doesn't have a scent. You felt so dumb now…

Ven laughs, "Bet there's still more huh?'' he guess. You smile sheepishly and nod curtly. Ven laughs harder this time, "I knew it!"

Yup, you're right all along… You thought in shame.

It finally comes to your conclusion that not only you mistaken the lavender oil for conditioner, you've mistaken them all. You realize that you used the bubble bath as the shampoo, while the shampoo as the bubble bath. And used the conditioner as the lavender oil... No wonder it doesn't have aroma in the bathroom earlier.

"Hey, wanna eat some ice cream? Maybe that will keep us from falling asleep during the day" he suggests, smiling up at you.

You nod at him and smile. Ven grins, "Okay! Wait here. I'll be back real quick" he immediately stood up, "I'll go bring us a _giant_ ice cream. Hope you don't mind if I bring all the flavors…" he sweat drop while rubbing his neck.

You shake your head and smile at him reassuringly.

Ven grins and nod. "Alright, be back in the minute!" he calls as he begins to run back all the way to the castle.

Not even looking at the ice creams yet, you were already drooling at the mention of the word 'ice cream'. You can't wait for him to come back and devour all those heavenly sweets.

_**After 1 minute…**_

"Here's the ice cream!"

You jump in surprise and turn to see Ven coming over while holding two large bowl of giant ice cream. That was _fast_…

He sits down beside you then handed you the bowl. You smile in thanks before grabbing the spoon.

As you were about to dig in, you stop…

That would be pretty embarrassing if you eat like a hungry pig near at him. So you choose to eat normal so that both of you are in same pace.

While Ven is eating, he looks at you in strange way.

"Why are you eating so slowly? You know the ice cream won't last long during the weather like this…" he gestures to the air with the motion of his hand before looking at you again, "Try to eat like me,"

He brings the bowl close to his face and then scoops some different flavors in a large size with his spoon before quickly eating it. He swallows it after 3 seconds… He turns and smiles at you,

"Now you try"

You imitate. You bring the bowl closer to your face then scoops some flavors up in a larger size. You look at Ven to check if you did the right thing and he nods, ushering for you to go on.

You quickly eat it. Suddenly you felt like you're already in heaven… _sweet heaven_.

You swallow then smile. That was _sweet_!

Ven grins, "See? Just eat fast and enjoy. There's still plenty of ice cream left on the fridge." He eats another scoop of ice cream then swallows.

"So we better eat quickly before Terra and Aqua can finish the remaining ones there"

You smile and nod.

The two of you then continue to spend your time digging into your ice creams while watching the scenery of the endless grassy mountains.

* * *

><p>The rest of the afternoon, you guys continue to spend sitting out the fields and where bored out of your minds…<p>

You notice that Ven is slowly starting to fall asleep while lying on the grass as you were sitting next to him. You wish he didn't fall asleep… If he did, who would go talk to you?

You wish you had a voice so that you go talk to him and shared with him all about your past on how you tried to survive and how you manage to make it this far... You'd also like to talk to him about anything so that at least he won't fall asleep during a day.

You sign and decided to lie next to him.

Now you also felt like falling asleep… The both of you yawn at the same time.

Ven turns to look at you, "You know… I think maybe we should go visit some world so that we have something to do to kill the time" he grins, "What do you think?"

You look at him unsurely… But didn't Eraqus said, that you guys are not allowed to go out?

Ven laughs and then slowly sat up, "Don't worry about Master Eraqus… He wouldn't know that we left since he won't be back until 7" he states then looks at his imaginary watch.

He smiles down at you, "It's still early. So how about we visit some world? A little fun _won't_ kill us…"

You smile. He's right. A little fun won't kill… Plus, you were bored to death just sitting around here.

Ven grins, "Great! We'll just start anywhere since I don't know where to start hehe" he helps you get up by pulling you. When you were already up, he still doesn't let go of your hand.

"We have four hours remaining before the guys come back and four hours of fun since they're not here yet" he extends his arm, about to create an unknown portal that leads to an unknown world

He looks down at you, "And before we go, I want you to stay close to me so that we won't get separated like the last time that happened with Terra and Aqua"

You nod.

He extends his arm and was about to create a portal when he saw someone… He froze.

You look up at him in confuse.

"Master Xehanort…" he whispers.

You raise your brow. Master Xena~ _what?_

He quickly looks at you then kneels down till he reaches your level. He grabs your shoulder,

"===, I want you to _stay_ here for a while until I come back. Can you do it?" he said it in a rush while looking at you with pleading eyes.

You nod unsurely… WhY does he look nervous?

You tried to take a peek over his shoulder but he continues to grip your shoulder, preventing you from seeing somebody you don't know.

"Try to take some nap for a while until I return ok?" he suggested quick while laying you down on the grass. You look up at him in confuse, wondering why is he such in a hurry? And who's this person that he calls his master? You thought Eraqus is his master.

Now you are even more confused…

He quickly stood up then gives you one last look,

"Just stay there and don't move" he instructs before running all the way back to the castle to meet someone…

"~"~"~"

When he's almost to the castle, you stood up and try to find the mysterious person whom Ven claims to be his master.

Your eyes narrow and you take a closer look since it's too hard to find the guy. Wait, is that _him_?

The old bald man who has pointed ears and wearing a black and white coat, is that the monster that made Ven nervous?

His making his way up the staircase of the castle as you saw Ven running to his way then calls for him. You cannot hear since you are miles away from them.

The old man stops then turns around. You saw Ven stops running then places his hands on his knees to catch his breath…

The old man walks down the steps to make his way to him. Ven looks up at him at the old man says something…

You wince and grip your stomach when you felt your stomach ache in pain all of the sudden…

You drop your knees to the floor while gripping your stomach tightly with your two hands.

It _hurts_…!

This pain is too _overwhelming_…!

You wince again as your stomach pain starts to get even more painful…

You look up and saw Ven and his master heads inside the castle then close the door.

_Ven_…!


	14. Chapter 14

**AquamarineRoses: **I wanted to thank you sooo much for your reviews and support to each and every chapter! ^^ Thank you! Thank you! You had no idea how long I've been waiting to get a review like this ever since I posted this story. You inspire me to continue even more! I'll continue to write a long chapter just for you ^^ Hope you enjoy! Peace off *hint* reviews pls? *hints* tell me what you think *hints*

BTW, I enjoyed reading your reviews (^v^)

P.S Sorry about chapter 12… I accidently misplace it earlier that's why its chapter 2 but I already replace it so go read it out ^^

'_Doctor Ven to the Rescue…'_

What is happening?

Why your stomach _hurts_?

You've been kneeling on the ground for 5 minutes now, finding it very hard and painful to stand up. You grit your teeth…

Will the pain go…?

You look at the castle… Will you be able to make it there?

But Ven told you to stay here right? You wonder if it's okay to ~

You grit your teeth again…

This pain is too unbearable. The longer you stay there, the longer it lingers, but when you try to stand up, the pain only gets even worst… What have you done wrong?

You look at the castle again, wondering if Ven and his master would come out any second now so that you won't have to struggle all the way there…

…..

…..

…..

You sigh… It's not even past 10 minutes. Master Xena, Sena, or whatever his name is just visited here a couple of minutes ago. Why would he leave so early? They might have a meeting inside…

You decided to wait here while trying to find the best comfortable position to stay to make the pain less painful. Maybe lying down will get rid of the pain… So you lie down.

_Bad_ move…

Instead of ridding the pain as you intended to, it only _adds_ more pain.

You quickly sat up and wince in pain, gripping your stomach that is aching so badly… That's it. You can't handle this anymore… Whether there is a meeting or not, you'll force your way there even if you aren't suppose to, not caring if you'll cause an interruption in the later events.

You carefully stood up while gripping your stomach. Your eyes clenched tight.

The aching won't stop… It just keeps throbbing and throbbing. Making it harder for you to continue…

You started walking slowly just to make sure not to cause any mistakable moves to avoid adding more pain.

_**2 minutes later…**_

You drop to your knees again…

Let's face it. You're still in the summit… And making your way all the way back to the castle can only add more torture to you. It's a very long way after all…

You sigh and give up. You notice as well that your stomach ache is slowly starting to fade away, but there's still pain that lingers there, not wanting to let go. And for the sake of your health, you might as well rest as Ven said…

You walk all the way back to the bench with one hand gripping on your stomach. Hopefully lying down this time won't add a pain.

When you're near at the bench, you climb on the bench then carefully start to lie down… You wince a bit when you still felt the throbbing pain in your stomach but continue to lie down on your back. You tolerate the pain, thinking that it's nothing and might probably disappear soon if you just lay down and rest here for a while.

Then you can go back to the castle… You planned before closing your eyes.

_Wait_… You open your eyes again.

Why would you go back to the castle when your stomach ache is already gone? Ven already told you that he'll be back and told you to stay here, right?

It would only waste time if you did so…

Your close your eyes and decided to just rest here and wait. At least from here you can see when the door of the castle is about to be open.

_**Unknown minutes later…**_

You open your eyes and were awake the whole time… The stomach ache is bothering you. You find it hard to sleep or rest during the pain.

You get off the bench and decided to walk all the way back to the castle to let Ven know that you're in pain. This bothers you…

After unknown minutes later, you manage to make it back towards the castle just in time to see Master old man and Ven walking down the staircase.

Ven was the first to saw you then run towards you.

"===, are you alright?" he asks worried, kneeling down to reach your level while gripping your shoulders. You saw the old man looking at you in amuse while appearing beside Ven. You refrain from gulping. _He looks scary…_

"So this is who you were supposed to be keeping an eye for…" the old man states.

Ven looks at him hesitantly then nod, "Yeah… I need to take care of her. She needs me…" he looks at you again, noticing the way you clutch your stomach.

The old man notices it too then nods. He smiles at you (_creepy smile_) and said, "I heard that you are born mute… === right?"

You nod curtly. This man is creeping you out... Just staring into his eyes already gives you the _chills…_

He extends his hand to you, "My name is Xehanort" you hesitantly accept it then shake hands with his,

"I was the one who brought Ven here to let him be train and grow stronger under Eraqus' care…" he gestures to Ven, who stood up slowly then looks at him,

"Ven told me that your parents had abando~

"I think === is in pain… I need to go check her up" Ven interrupts, giving Xehanort a serious look.

Xehanort looks at you again then nods, "Very well… Keep in mind that I'll be visiting here every once in a week to see how are you doing" he said while passing by the two of you with his hands grasp on his back. He summons a portal,

"And tell the three 'good afternoon' for me…" he called before vanishing through the portal.

You give Ven a questioning look. He looks at you, seeming to know what you're thinking,

"That was my Master…"

You nod, already understood it.

You wince and clutch your stomach tighter when you felt another jolt of pain hitting in your stomach. Ven quickly kneels down at you then grip your shoulders, "-, are you _okay_?"

You shake your head before wincing again, your head lowering.

Ven sees the way you clutch your stomach before looking at you again, "Does your stomach hurt?"

You nod curtly while gritting your teeth.

Ven stand up then grabs your hand, "Can you walk?" You nod again.

Ven carefully leads you up at the staircase to reach for the door…

**'_Inside the kitchen…'**_

Ven lets you stand with your back against the cabinet before stepping back.

"Okay… Try to follow my actions. It might help cure your stomach ache…" You nod curtly while gripping your stomach with one hand.

He starts to stretch slowly, then breathe in and out at a certain pace.

You did the same. You stretch a bit since it hurts to move more and then breathe in and out… which turn into a ragged. Ven frowns at you.

"Try to relax… It'll help soothe the pain" he said as he demonstrates it, "Just continue to breathe calmly until you can no longer feel the pain…"

You nod then try to breathe calmly as Ven begin to reach for the refrigerator.

You inhale as you watch him bring out a jar of water before closing the refrigerator. He opens one of the cabinets then picks up a glass.

You exhale as he begins to use the jar to pour water on the glass. You inhale slowly…

Ven return the jar of water back to the ref before closing it. You wince before gripping your stomach again… Your attempt to breathe calmly has once again _failed_...

Ven rushes to you with glass in hand then gives it to you

"Here, drink this" you took it with your free hand, "It might ease the pain for awhile…"

You drink it quickly, already had _enough _with the pain. Ven watch you in a sweat drop…

"Er… Slow down… You might get _choke_" he states while watching you wryly.

You choke.

Your face turns white.

Ven rushes to you then grab the glass before you might drop it. He quickly places it in the sink then went and kneels slightly behind your back, placing one arm diagonally across your chest then bend you forward.

He begins to strike firmly between your shoulder blades with the heel of his other hand.

You almost drop.

"_Hang on_! Don't move! I need you to stay _still_ so that I can give you some air back"

You nod curtly, face still pale while eyes turning red.

After five times of back blows, he hurriedly leans over to look at you, "Can you breathe?"

You look at him with snow white face and shake your head frantically. Ven's eyes widen…

He quickly stood up then went behind your back, encircling his arms around your waist. Your eyes widen as your tongue stick at the same time when he begins to thrust his fists on your upper abdomen.

_Wh-What is he doing?_

He continues to give you five sharp chest thrusts before looking over at you with worried expression, "Feeling better?"

You cough soundlessly for awhile while feeling some air starting to form its way back to your lungs. You nod at him while smiling slyly. You are _officially _dumb…

Ven sighs in relief then grins at you, "That was _close_…" he slowly stands up then looks down at you, "You look like you were about to pass out in a minute…" he chuckles.

You flush. Well, it's _true_…. You thought it's the end of you.

He smiles and bends on his knees to you, "So is your stomach _alright_?" he asks with hope.

Your stomach begins to ache…

You look up at him dumbfounded. He looks at you dumbfounded too…

"Not again…" he sighs, face palm.

**'_At the hallway'**_

Ven leads you to the toilet then points at it, looking at you

"Go in and do it."

You flush and then nod.

You open the toilet door then enter inside. Ven gives you a smile,

"_Good luck_!" he gives you a thumb up.

You smile slyly and nod, before closing the door…

"_I'll be waiting inside my room!_" he called from behind the door.

**'_After 26 minutes…**_

You've been sitting on the crap toilet for more than a half an hour now…

Nothing comes out yet. This annoys you…

You tried pushing it harder and harder just to let go of whatever that's inside you that caused the ache to your stomach.

You are gritting your teeth in concentration while sweating. _Why doesn't it want to let go? _You thought angrily. It's getting hot in here and you can't wait to get out of here just to get some fresh air…

You vigorously wipe the sweat off your forehead then wipe your hand on your clothes to let it dry.

You're tired….

"===_? Is everything alright?_" Ven suddenly called from behind the door.

You let out a fart, _accidentally_…

You blush wildly and look at the door reluctantly…

Silence…

You hope Ven _didn't_ hear that…

You heard him chuckle,

"_Oh_! _I see_…"

"_Sorry to interrupt_… _I didn't know that you're in the middle of a_ …." You heard him chuckle again, this time awkwardly "…_yeah_"

This is **embarrassing!**

Awkward silence…

"_Anyway_… _Just take your time!_" he said cheerfully before leaving you.

Why did you always have to end up doing some _embarrassing _things…?

**'_After 12 minutes…'**_

You finally left the toilet…

You did manage to let out a tiny drop of 'cookie' after Ven left, and that was it.

But still. At least it went out, better than to be still stuck in… Better out than in, right?

You clutch your stomach when you felt it begin to ache again… You inwardly groan.

You glare down at your stomach.

_**What is wrong with you**_?

* * *

><p>You found Ven on his bedroom lying on his bed, seeming to be waiting for you.<p>

He saw you then sit up, "Is your stomach ache gone?" You shake your head.

He gives you a deadpanned look. You sweat drop…

He stood up then walks to you, grabbing your hand "Come on, back to the kitchen…" he sighs before closing his door.

**'_Back at the kitchen…'**_

You were sitting on the floor with your legs stretch while watching Ven who is busy moving around on the kitchen…

He gave you an ice cube for you to place it above or below your belly button to numb the pain temporarily while he is busy preparing boiled water, brings out several glasses from the cabinet then places them on a tray, brings out a jar of cold water, milk carton, and some crackers from the refrigerator rushes to the stove to check if the water is already boil then return back to the ref to try to check if there's something else to cure your irritating stomach ache.

He was rushing back and forth around the kitchen with such a speed. Making it entertaining for you to watch him…

He rushes to you with a glass of milk and crackers in his hands then kneels down in front of you.

"You love milk right? Then drink this. You need to have more acid to neutralize your stomach since I don't think you have enough…" he handed you the glass of milk which you took it.

He offers the crackers to you "Have some crackers too… This will help absorb the acid so that you will feel a little more comfortable." You took it too. He stood up and then reaches for the glass of water from the tray that was place on the kitchen cabinet.

He returns to you then kneels down, handing you the glass of water "Also, sip this water after when you're done eating the crackers…" You nod as you accept the glass of water.

The sound of the boiling water crackling gets his attention.

"Good! The water's already boiled" he smiles at you, "You also need to drink warm water to aid your digestion" You just nod, hoping that everything he said is right…

You begin to drink the milk while watching him rushing to the stove to turn it off.

He turns off the stove then began to reach for the kettle.

You were halfway finish of drinking your milk when Ven suddenly yelps loudly, "_OW!_"

You drop your glass of milk…

The kettle that Ven just grabbed also fell to the floor and made a loud metal noise…

Ven wince as he blows his hand desperately to cool it after accidentally touching the very hot kettle.

Your eyes widen when you realize what've you've done…

Ven's eyes also widen when he realizes what've he done…

You both just created a _mess._

The glass you accidentally dropped just break into pieces while the rest of the milk is already spilled on the floor, while the kettle that Ven drop has some of the hot water spill all over the floor.

The both of you look at each other in a sweat drop before looking again at the mess that you both just created…

Silence…

"_I'm such an idiot!_" Ven exclaims in frustration with his hands on his head.

You quickly stand up to help him clean up. You wince. _Big mistake_…

Ven saw what you just did then rush over to you… You clutch on your aching stomach while wincing in pain. You're dumb…

"-! Are you _alright_? You shouldn't have do~" Ven accidentally step on the spill milk from the floor.

When you look up, your eyes widen in surprise when you saw that Ven is about to squash you on the floor…

Just as he was about to hit you, he quickly grabs you by the arms then flips you around so that it was him who'll about to bump into the floor and not you.

He made an 'oof' sound when his back hit the floor while holding you protectively.

The both of you slowly open your eyes.

Ven quickly sat up while still holding you. He looks at you in worry… "I'm soo so soo sorry ===! I forgot to realize the there was a spilled milk over the floor! It was all an accident!"

You nodded your head frantically, indicating that you understand and that you don't care at all… Accidents do happen.

He saw you clutching your stomach.

He stood up then kneels down to you, touching your shoulder, "Do you want to rest ? I can give you another milk to drink if you want…" You look at him in disbelief before gesturing to the mess that you both created… No way that you could just go and rest while he cleans up all the mess you both made. It's driving you guilty.

Ven look at the mess before looking at you again, "_Oh_? That little thing…? No biggie. I can handle it" he smiles at you reassuringly. He then points at your stomach, "This is what you should be worrying about…"

He pokes it. You wince. That _hurts_…

He nods, "See? If you ignore it, it will only get worse. So I suggest you get plenty of rest as much as you can…" He smiles at you while standing up.

He picks up the crackers beside you and the glass of water then gestures his head over the mess,  
>"Don't worry about the mess. I'll take care of it… Just focus more about your health okay? Cause health is wealth. And ignoring it only means you're losing health" he smiles. You smile too and nod.<p>

He's right. Without health, there's no wealth in life…

"Let's go to your room. You can continue your milk and crackers there before going to sleep" he handed you the crackers which you gladly took it. He smiles and then grabs your hand, "I promise, once the stomach ache is gone, we'll hang out more and have more fun this time…"

You smile up at him, "Who knows… Maybe we'll visit another world someday" he grins.

The two of you then left the kitchen…

* * *

><p>Back at your room, Ven left you with the glass of water and crackers, saying that he'll be right back with another warm glass of water and glass of milk.<p>

It's been 16 minutes since he left. And right now you got only two pieces of crackers left in your hand. You decided to try put the two pieces of crackers in your mouth to see if it fits…

You grab the two crackers with your thumb and finger before reaching them to your now open wide mouth…

You did a dramatic slow-motion to kill some time since you are bored…

You wonder when Ven will be back while doing so…

You widen your mouth even more to let the two fit perfectly into your mouth.

Almost there…

Just as the two crackers are about to get munch by you, the door suddenly opens.

The crackers fell to the floor…

You look down in surprise, before looking up to see Ven balancing one tray on his palm while using the other hand to close the door. He slowly turns around, facing you then balance the tray with his two hands.

On top of the tray, you can see there's two glasses, warm water while the other one is milk. There's also a rag there… You raise your brow. Why is there a rag there?

Ven went to place the tray on the round table before sitting down on the plush chair. He smiles at you,

"How's the stomach ache?" he teases.

You gave him the look. He laughs, "I was only kidding!" he reaches the table then grabs the glass of milk, "Here," he hands it to you. You took it and smile at him in thanks "Hope you don't drop it this time…" he teases again.

You look at him deadpanned before drinking the milk. He laughs then recognized that you already finish all of your crackers.

"That was quick…" he states in amuse.

You gave him a questioning look while continuing to gulp down the milk.

He picks up the empty plastic of crackers then showed it to you. "Were you really that hungry?" he grins teasingly at you.

You point at your stomach while giving him a dumb look.

He looks at it then realizes what you meant. "Oh… Hehe right… For your stomach ache…But I didn't ask you to finish them all" he chuckles.

You set the empty glass of milk back to the tray, already finished it. Ven stares at it in surprise then looks at you in amaze, "Already finish…?"

You smile and nod proudly.

He smiles in amuse, then grabs the warm water from the tray and gives it to you. "Good. Now drink this. The ache in your stomach _fears_ it" he _jokes_?

You took it then drink it, hoping that he's not joking and it will fight the ache away.

"Slow down… You don't want to get choke again do you?"

You froze, remembering that awful experience and never wanted to encounter it again. So you slow down drinking as he said…

He silently watches you.

You finish the warm water half way before placing it back on the tray. Then you realize something…

You point at the rag and give him a questioning look.

He looks at it then smiles.

"Oh, I brought a warm rag so that you can put it your stomach and relax…" he picks it up before standing up.

Oh… Now you see. So that's why there's a rag there.

He sits down on your bed beside you then looks at you. "You can lie down now… I'll help you get in a comfortable position so that your stomach ache will vanish after you get enough full rest" he states.

You nod and lie down.

He lifts the edge of your shirt a bit then places the warm rag on it, patting it, "Just leave it there… It will give you a temporary pain relief for awhile while you're resting" You nodded. He looks at you,

"Just relax okay? Try not to think of the pain… So that you won't have trouble falling asleep." You nodded.

He leans over your side to grab some extra pillows then puts them below your feet.

"This also helps for the ache to go away… Your feet must be in a higher level than the rest of your body"

You just nod, the warmth of the rag is so soothing…Slowly making you fall asleep.

Ven looks at you,

"Just relax and breathe normal… Don't think about the pain"

You nod while slowly closing your eyes.

Ven felt like he just stepped his feet on a new piece biscuits. When he looks down, he found two crackers on the floor. So he reaches down then grabbed it.

"You could at least safe me the spare ones instead of wasting it…"

You open your eyes and saw him holding the two pieces of crackers. You immediately sweat drop.

You look at him wryly…

He just smiles at you while shaking his head in amuse before putting the two crackers on the tray.

"Doesn't matter… We had plenty of more of those in the ref." He begins to rub your stomach up and down from the shirt.

"Go to sleep now. Once you are already asleep, you'll forget about the pain… And when you wake up, you'll find out that the pain is already gone" he smiles. You smiles back and nod, before closing your eyes again.

He continues to rub your stomach up and down until you go to sleep…

"~"~"~"

After 10 minutes, he notices that you're already asleep… So he stops rubbing your stomach after switching his hand back and forth then stood up.

He watches you sleep for awhile before leaning down…

He gently grabs your shoulder then kisses your forehead, whispering "Goodnight" at you even though it's not yet night then turns to leave your room.

When he reaches the door, he watches you sleep for awhile before slowly opens the door.

He turns around then gently closes the door to avoid making noise…

May your stupid ache be gone…


	15. Chapter 15

"_How is she?"_

"_She's fine Aqua. Guys, let her have some more rest…"_

"_What have you done this time Ven?"_

"_I haven't done anything! Now get out, you guys are creating a noise"_

"_Are you sure she's fine? Maybe she needs our help. You know she can't ~" __"I already told you a thousand times! She's fine and she only needs some resting"_

"_Had she eaten dinner yet?" _

"_She can have her dinner later once she gets up"_

"_You should have wake her first so that she can have her dinner before going back to sleep"_

"_She needs to wake up by herself Terra. For her health's sake"_

"_What if she sleeps through the whole night? She could have skip dinner you know…"_

"_Aqua's right. - needs to get up first to eat so later she can have her full rest…"_

"_But I already told you guys! She needs to get up by herself so that ~_

You shift from your sleep…

Aqua, Ven, Terra and Eraqus look at you while Ven looks at you in surprise.

Ven glares at them then uses his hands to push them out from your room, "_Now look what you guys did!_" he whispers harshly at them while gesturing at you, "_You just woke her up!_"

"That's good. She needs to eat her di~" Eraqus was cut off by Ven "_Shhhh!_" he places a finger to this mouth while glaring at him, "_Your waking her up!_" he gestures to your sleeping form again.

The three look at you nonchalantly.

"Well, she needs to wake up. She can't skip eat~" "_Out!_" Aqua was cut off by Ven who pushes them out of the door then quietly closes the door.

* * *

><p><em>**2 hours later…**<em>

You slowly open your eyes and found yourself lying on your bed.

You blink.

You look around in confuse… _Why is it already dark_?

You look through the window to your left and notice that it is already evening…

You blink again in confuse.

_Evening already? _How long were you asleep…?

You slowly sat up before rubbing your eyes. You look to the window again.

You like the view… On the sky, there are stars gathering everywhere that makes the night even lovelier to look at. You officially love Land of Departure.

You look at your door when you heard it creak open.

You saw Aqua came in while holding a tray with plate of food and glass. She smiles while approaching you,

"Hey… How's your sleep?" she places the tray on the round table before sitting at the plush chair beside your bed. She looks at you,

"I heard that you have a stomach ache…" she states.

Stomach ache? You thought in confuse…

Since when do you have a stomach ache?

"Ven told us that you suffer a stomach ache while we are not here… Is that true?"

Oh… Now you remember. That's the most _painful_ experience that you ever experience…

You look at her and nod.

She looks at you in concern, "How are you feeling? Is the stomach ache already gone?"

You look down and feel your stomach…

Nothing… You no longer felt any pain or ache.

You look back at her and nod. She smiles

"Good"

She grabs the plate from the tray then gives it to you, "Here, I brought you your dinner"

You took it then look down at it.

"Hope you like chicken and rice…" she smiles, "I'm the one who made it."

You look down at it again and notice how delicious it looks same goes with the smell. You smile and nod at her, letting her know that you like chicken too…

She smiles again but it was replaces with a frown when she remembers something…

She looks at you sadly.

"===, do you know the reason why you have the stomach ache earlier?" she asks.

You shake your head and give her a curious look to ask her why.

She looks hesitant, "Well… I think you ate too many sweets. Remember the ice cream you had as breakfast that Ven made you earlier?" You nod.

She frowns, "I'm afraid to say that it has too many high levels of sugar… Eating too much sweet can cause an abdominal pain and problems such as having an ulcer, feeling like vomiting and having a diarrhea…" she explains.

You look at her in shock, finding it hard to believe that you are almost on the verge of death yesterday…

"I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid that you should stop eating sweets from now on…"

You heart race…

"It's for your own good... To prevent you from having a stomach ache again so that you won't have to suffer anymore."

You gulp in fear… You can't live a day without eating sweet…

"So Ven and I decided to swap our roles so that this time I'll be giving you some _real _breakfast to taste with" she smiles.

You gave a fake smile and nod…

No…

Is she _serious_…?

No more sweet at all? Not even candy, or small piece of chocolate?

This is _nightmare_…

She stood up then smiles down at you again, "Don't worry about it… I'm sure you'll get use to it. Besides, real food tastes greater than made ones."

You just nod and give her another fake smile again.

"When you're through, just bring them to the kitchen. Terra will wash them." You nod.

She smiles again, "Alright. Hope you enjoy the chicken. Goodnight" she call, waving before leaving your room and closes the door.

You sigh in depress…

No more sweets…

* * *

><p>After finishing your dinner then leaving them to the kitchen sink, you decided to go out for awhile and visit the summit…<p>

When you made it to the summit, you saw Ven lying on the grass with his arms cross behind his head while gazing at the stars.

You decided to join him.

When you approach him, you saw that his eyes are close while he is breathing peacefully. You tilt your head in wonder…

Is he asleep…?

You study him for a moment…

He's still not moving and it looks like his sleeping… Oh well, best not to disturb him.

You slowly sit down beside him and bring your knees closer to your chest before hugging them, frowning.

You still can't get rid of the words that Aqua told you… It's like stabbing through the heart when she said that you should stop eating any sweets anymore.

Cause sweets are your _strength._

Ven slowly opens his eyes then yawns… When he turns, he was surprise to see you sitting beside him.

"===?"

You look down and saw Ven already awake. He slowly sat up while looking at you in concern,

"Is your stomach ache gone?"

You frown at him and nod before looking straight again…

Ven frowns then looks straight as well. He looks down,

"I'm sorry…" he apologizes

You look at him in confuse, wondering why and what is he apologizing for…

He looks at you sadly, "It's all my fault… I shouldn't have made you ice cream for breakfast"

But you don't mind… Don't apologize.

He sighs, "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be having a stomach ache in the first place"

You frown at him, clearly wanting him to know that you _enjoyed_ eating his made breakfast and don't regret taking it.

"I'm sorry that I won't be able to make you breakfast anymore…" he sighs while gazing at the grass. Your frown deepens when he said that…

There was a silence.

You wish you had a voice to let him hear that you like his breakfast and you don't mind having another stomach ache…

You don't know what's worst… Having another stomach ache or not allowed to eat sweets anymore.

You guess both.

Ven looks at you in apology, "They won't allow me to…" he shakes his head before looking down, "Fearing that I might cause you another pain" he frowns.

You place your hand on top of his then smile at him, letting him know that you don't mind… That it's okay… Okay that he can't make you any breakfast anymore. And that you appreciate his sweet offer anyway... A sign of telling him 'thank you'. Thank you for all the effort… From now on, you'll never forget how much you enjoyed and remembered of how great the taste of his breakfast is…

He looks down at your hand on top of his and then smiles back at you…Seeming to get the message.

The two of you continue to sit there while gazing at the million stars surrounding the sky.

_**After 21 minutes…**_

The two of you became bored out of your mind…

Have nothing to do but just to lie there on the grass while continue to stare at the stars like it's the most precious thing you guys ever seen…

Ven yawns

"I wonder when the meteor shower will show up…"

Meteor Shower? Is that why he's here to wait for the meteor shower? You wondered.

"Every time when I came here to wait for the meteor shower, it never appears…" he states in annoyed.

You look at him in pity. How sad…

"And whenever I'm inside the house or inside my room, it magically appears all of the sudden just as I was about to fall asleep in my bed" he complains while looking at you with irritate look.

You chuckle.

You can't help it. You thought it's funny to see him so hype up just to see the meteor shower.

He glares at you, "Oh, so now you think it's _funny_?"

You continue to chuckle then smile at him, nodding.

He 'hmps' and then crosses his arms while looking at the stars "You had no idea how much I waited here every day just to wait for it to appear" he pouts.

You chuckle again, thinking that maybe after a long wait for the meteor shower to appear while watching the stars, he became bored then slowly falls asleep. Not realizing that while he is asleep, the meteor show suddenly appeared then vanished just as he was about to woke up.

Ven gives you the 'look'.

"That's not _funny_... Quit laughing!" You continue to laugh.

"You'll make me regret it about telling you my 'secret' for after all I've trusted you not to _laugh_!"

You quickly stop laughing and grin at him instead.

He narrows his eyes at you then turns on his side to face away from you.

You secretly snicker behind him.

He turns at you. You quickly put on a straight face.

"Have you even seen a meteor shower before?" he asks.

You shake your head. Now becoming even more curious to know what this meteor shower look like...

He smirks

"Then you'll have to wait _longer _like me to see it yourself"

This time you give him the 'look'.

And this time he laughs.

"What me to explain how it looks like?" he ask in amuse. You became excited.

You nodded your head quickly and give him a smile. Excited to find out what's really a meteor shower.

He smiles and then nod. "Okay. Let me tell you a story on how I first encountered the meteor shower on my first stay here in the Land of Departure…"

You nod, smiling. You can't wait to hear it.

He smiles then looks up at the sky

"_You would not believe your eyes_"

"_If ten million meteor lights_" he gestures to the sky with a wave of his hand

He extends his arm up in the air "_Lit up the world as I fell asleep_"

He smiles at you then stands up,

"_'Cause they'd fill the open air" _he gestures to the air while walking forward_  
><em> then spreads his arm_ "And leave comets everywhere" _

He looks at you then points at himself_  
><em>_"You'd think me mean__  
><em>_but I would just stand_

He looks up

"_And…"_

He smiles while looking at the sky in awe

"…_stare"_

_"~"~"~''_

You watch as Ven walks slowly to the edge of the summit while you are standing behind him

"_I'd like to make myself believe_..." he looks down while feeling his heart with his fist.

He looks up_  
><em>_"That planet Earth turns slowly_..."

He turns around to face you_  
><em>_"It's hard to say that I'd rather stay__  
><em>_awake when I'm asleep"_

He walks pass by you with his head facing down

then stops, slowly looking up

"_'Cause everything is never as it seems_…"

"~"~"~"

You are now following Ven walking on the fields

"_'Cause I'd get a thousand lights_" he smiles as he remembers his old memories…

_**Flashback**_

Ven hurriedly runs to chase the meteor shower that was falling through the sky then activates his pauldron

"_From ten thousand meteor storm…"__  
><em>He transforms into a suit of armor then leaps off on the edge of the mountain

He then summons his Key Glider then rides on top of it,

"_As they tried to teach me how to fly"_

He spins and glides through the air while chasing the meteor showers around wildly.

While he is on training, waiting for the meteor shower to arrive…

"~"~"~"

He looks up to check any signs of meteor shower

"_The stars above my head"_

He frowns then looks down_  
><em>_"The grasses beneath my feet"_

Then he continued hitting the ring with his keyblade, glaring…_  
><em>_"The ring on a string that's just hanging by a string"_

_"~"~"~"_

"_I'd like to make myself believe…"_

Ven runs to the summit and can't wait to see another meteor shower for his second time.

"_That planet Earth turns slowly…"__  
><em>He looks around frantically, wondering if there's any sign for the meteor shower to come…

After 20 minutes of no meteor shower encountered, he decided to go lie down on the grass then wait, while watching the stars…

Then he slowly falls asleep after a long wait…

"_It's hard to say that I'd rather stay__  
><em>_awake when I'm asleep…"__  
><em>While during he's asleep, meteor shower just appeared from the sky and continue to burst through the air.

"_'Cause everything is never as it seems…"_

When he opens his eyes, the meteor shower is already gone…_  
><em>_"When I fall asleep"_

_"~"~"~"_

On the other day, Ven decided to wait for the meteor shower inside his room since he's too lazy to go out

"_Leave my window open just a crack"__  
><em>_(Please take me away from here)_

He opens his window slightly so that he can hear a signal of the meteor shower coming then lies down on his bed, crossing his arms behind his head_  
><em>_"'Cause I feel like such an hypersomnia…"_

_(Please take me away from here)_

He looks at the sky from the window…

"_Why do I tire of counting stars?"__  
><em>_(Please take me away from here)_

He yawns then slowly started to fall asleep…_  
><em>_"When I'm far too tired to fall asleep"_

_"~"~"~"_

Other day when Ven finally encountered another meteor shower that was slowly about to leave...

He looks at the meteor shower sadly.

"_To ten million meteor lights…__  
><em>_I'm weird 'cause I hate bye byes"_

The meteor shower begins to disappear_  
><em>_"I got puffy eyes as they said farewell…"_

Then he smiles,

"_But I'll know where several are…__  
><em>_If my dreams get real bizarre"_

He looks at the sky again with a smile_  
><em>_"'Cause I stalked a few and kept them inside my head"_

_**Present…**_

Ven continues to sing out loud as you were listening with interest at the fields…

"_I'd like to make myself believe…" _

He smiles while singing, spreading his arms then looks everywhere,_  
><em>_"That planet Earth… turns slowly…"_

He turns around and smiles at you,

"_It's hard to say that I'd rather stay__ a__wake when I'm asleep" _he gestures to himself with his hand_  
><em>Then he turns around again, walking forward.

He gestures to the sky,

"_'Cause everything is never as it seems…"__  
><em>He closes his eyes,

"_When I fall asleep"__  
><em>He turns around again to face you and extend his right hand to the side,_  
><em>_"I'd like to make myself believe__…__that planet Earth turns slowly"_

He walks forward while doing a motion with his hands,_  
><em>_"It's hard to say that I'd rather stay__awake when I'm asleep"_

He stops walking and then closes his eyes, placing his fist on his chest _  
><em>_"'Cause everything is never as it seems…"__  
><em>He looks at you while moving his free hand to his side,

"_When I fall asle~"__  
><em>"Ven?"

Ven suddenly jumps then turns around quickly to see Terra giving him an amuse look.

"Oh! T-_Terra!" _he exclaims, smiling sheepishly.

Terra smiles in amuse before approaching beside you

"Were you just _singing_? How come I'm not invited?" he teases while you giggle.

Ven's face flushes then looks at him with a raise brow. He points at himself,

"What? Me? Singing?" he laughs sheepishly. He gives Terra a weird look,

"What are you talking about? I don't sing… Maybe you're just hearing things ehehe"

Terra looks at you, "Is that true ===?"

You smile and shake your head. Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw Ven gave you a betrayal look.

Terra smirks at Ven.

"So what's the title of your song?"

Ven quickly glares at him and then stalks out,

"Hmph," he went pass by you two

Terra laughs, "Hey, I was only _kidding_"

Ven glares at him and then grabs your hand, "Very funny Terra… Now if you would excuse us, === needs to go back to sleep"

Terra raises his brow, "Right now?"

Ven nods, "Yes, right now… I heard her bed is calling for her" You raise your brow at him.

Terra smiles, "Oh, okay. Goodnight then" he looks at you, "Have a sweet dreams ===."

You smile at him and nod.

Ven begins to lead you both back to the castle then stops.

He looks over his shoulder,

"The name of the song is called 'Meteor Light'…"

He said before taking you and him back to the castle.


	16. Chapter 16

_The next day…_

This morning, Aqua had came to your room and handed you your 'real' breakfast that was made by herself.

You're a little disappointed that Ven can no longer make you some 'sweet' breakfast. Cause in the past, every morning you would use to have chocolate and vanilla bars as your breakfast before heading to another store to do your usual 'shopstealing'.

You were so used to having 'sweets' as your breakfast.

But you have to admit, Aqua's made breakfast taste really good for a non-sweet food…

After finishing your breakfast, you don't know what to do next so you decided to visit the summit like yesterday.

* * *

><p><em>**After 4 hours…**<em>

You and Ven are now sitting on the edge of the summit, bored out of your minds. Again.

Ven frowns

"It's just not fair… Terra and Aqua would always get to use to visit the other worlds while I get to be stuck here…" he gives you an irritate look,

"…doing some _stupid_ boring chores" he begins to count off his fingers

"Having some training sessions…" his middle finger joining his pointer

"Then do some_ more _chores…" he rolls his eyes

"And then go training with Master Eraqus…" he growls

"And more boring tasks!" he rants, which makes you jump.

"And another training…" he glares

"Then _chores_!"

"And again…" he frowns

"Repeat"

"Back and forth"

You sat there uneasily…

He sighs then looks at you,

"Why can't I also go visit another world…?"

You shrug.

He glares, "Just because Terra and Aqua are already 'grown-ups', doesn't mean that I can't go too…!" he complains.

You nodded, agreeing.

The two of you are now in silence…

"~"~"~"

After a few minutes, you heard him snap his fingers. You turn your head at him.

"I got an idea!" he grins then looks at you, eyes sparkling.

"I'll tell Master Eraqus that you are feeling bored and felt the need to go out there to visit a new world for a whole new _experience_!"

You sweat drop.

He grins again and nods. "That's it! That's the plan!"

He immediately stood up then smiles down at you,

"You stay right here and wait for me to come back with the good news ok?"

You nodded, unsurely.

You watch him run off.

Is that a good idea…?

* * *

><p><em>**After 24 minutes…**<em>

Ven returns in a rush of speed.

When he's close to you, he places his hands on his knees and pants. His face is a little sweaty.

After a few breathes, he grins at you,

"Good news! Master Eraqus has fin~ _accept_ the idea!" he stood up straight then smiles at you, "Meaning, we can finally go visit another world!" Your eyes lit up, surprise to hear the news.

Ven's smile was suddenly replace by a frown,

"But… We only have 4 hours to spare before coming back" he said sadly. You raise your brow at him. Why does he sound disappointed? Four hours is _long_ enough…

Ven smiles again, "Oh well, at least four hours sounds long enough to me." He suddenly frowns and quickly grabs your hand to pull you up to your feet.

"Get on up! We _only_ got four hours to spend in another world! We better leave _now_!"

You gave him a confuse look. What _really_?

He picks you up and then runs in a speed of light. You quickly grip onto him, fearing that you might end up falling off and hit your face.

You were used to your face… You felt uncomfortable about the thought of borrowing someone's face or have a new permanent one.

"~"~"~"~"~"

The two of you are now in the center of the area outside the castle. And to your relief, you're back to your feet again… You can't handle anymore of Ven's speeding, landing and hopping. Your heart would always start to jump whenever he starts to jump and drop whenever he starts to drop off to the ground.

You've made a mental note to yourself to prevent being carried by Ven to avoid early death. You're too young to die…

Ven holds your hand and extends his right arm to create a portal

"Ven! Wait!"

The two of you turn to see Terra and Aqua running down the staircase to catch up with you both.

When they finally reach the ground, Ven raises his brow at them, "Why aren't you guys on a mission yet?"

Terra and Aqua stood in front of you two.

"We want to know what world you two are about to be visiting" stated Terra as Aqua nods.

"World…? Oh," Ven smiles

"The New world" he answered simply which causes Terra to face palm.

Terra shakes his head, "No… Not that. What I meant is… what's the 'name' of the world that you guys are about to be heading" he stated clearly. Ven gave a confuse look,

"Uh…Earth?" he tilts his head. Aqua face palm.

"No Ven. We asks for the 'title'. You know… The title of the world" she explains.

Ven shrugs, "We don't know the 'title' yet" He smiles, "But I'll know the name and the title once - and I visit there already and will tell you guys when we come back" he said reassuringly.

Terra and Aqua gives each other a sly look.

They both give you two a worried look.

"Ven, are you _sure_…about this?" Terra asks in concern, eyeing you secretly.

Aqua frowns, "It might be risky…"

Ven narrows his eyes at them both, "Why are you two worried about us anyway? You both have a mission to worry to…" He gestures to you and himself

"It's not like we're about to face another Unversed from the affected world…"

"Yeah… But," Aqua was interrupted by Ven who raise his eyebrow at her "But _what_? We don't have the right to leave just because we aren't grown-ups?"

Aqua frowns at him, "No, not that. It's just~"

"We don't want you two to be put in danger" Terra explains for her, "Who knows what worlds they've got ahead… Not many worlds out there are safe to visit" he gives Ven a serious look,

"And…there's a high chance that every world includes danger in them."

Ven glares at him, "Yeah, but that doesn't mean that we're going to stop visiting them" he grabs your hand again then extends his hand. Terra and Aqua's eyes widen.

Ven looks at them over his shoulder while creating a portal,

"Besides, Master Eraqus only gave us four hours. So stop worrying guys… We'll be safe"

"Did Master Eraqus really allow this?" Aqua asks, getting worried.

Ven already creates a portal then turns to her, "Of course Aqua. That's why we're visiting"

"Do you even know which world you two are about to be visiting?" Terra asks.

Ven gives him a deadpanned look, "The _New_ world…"

Terra and Aqua gives him a sly look.

"What kind of new world?" Aqua asks. Ven sighs,

"We don't even know yet… That's why we're _visiting_, right?"

Terra and Aqua sighs in defeat.

Aqua looks at him unsurely, "Do you really have to do this…?" she asks.

Ven gives her an annoyed look, "Yeah," he said in a duh tone, "We're bored here remember?" he reminds.

"That's why we're leaving"

He then grabs your hand and begins to leads you both to the portal.

Terra and Aqua's eyes widen,

"V-Ven! Wait!"

Ven accidentally being unaware that pushes you through the portal as he quickly turns around, "Bye guys!" he waves, grinning.

"Have a nice mission!" he called before vanishing through the portal.

Terra and Aqua just stood frozen there…

_**After a few seconds_…**

Master Eraqus suddenly pops out from behind them, making them both jump.

Terra immediately turns to him,

"Master, why would you let Ven to go out with === to another world _alone_?" he asks in disbelief as Aqua nods, agreeing with him

"Yeah… What if something wrong happens?" she asks in a worry.

Master Eraqus just smiles at them then waves it off, "Oh let them be… Those kids deserve to have some fun after all. It's only a visit to another world" he reassured.

Terra and Aqua sweat drop.

Master Eraqus puts on his sunglasses (that he bought from the Rodeo Drive) and brings up his refreshments,

"For now, it is time for me to take a few chills at the mountains…" he walks passes by them.

Terra and Aqua seems to have a trouble trying to negotiate with him as he is walking away.

Master Eraqus stops then turns his head over his shoulder to look at them,

"Oh, by the way, don't you two have mission to do? So best get it started… You know what they say, the earlier the better." He smiles at them

"So best get the job done earlier to make it the better"

He said before continuing to walk away.

Terra and Aqua sighs…

* * *

><p>You open your eyes and found yourself lying near beside a store that has a background of a barn behind it.<p>

You turn your head around in confuse, trying to get an idea on how you ended up here in the first place.

You slowly sat up then give the area you're in another look to figure where you are now…

Your eyes widen.

You're in a _city! _But how…?

Then you realize something…

_Where's Ven_?

Oh _sheet_…

You quickly stood up then brush yourself off to get rid of the dirt since you've been lying on the ground that might have been step by so many dirty shoes. You look up.

There's a store in front of you. Maybe Ven is inside there.

Time for you to check out…

"~"~"~"~"~"

When you entered inside, you now realize that this is a _Toy _store…

Meaning, whenever you go and look around, toys are seen everywhere.

Your inner child grows. You became excited. You never had the chance to play with any toys since the 'incident' and now seeing the toys for the first time after three years brings you to a joyous mood.

Now's the chance for you to _play_!

Wait!

You're supposed to find Ven, _not _playing with some toys. That'll only waste time!

You hate temptation… So then you decided to make a rule,

Find Ven then _play_ later…

"~"~"~"~"~"

The first aisle you check through is the first aisle. Where set of organized toy guns were displayed for boys and maybe girls who'd loved to practice shooting for future killing…

If you'd had money, you'll immediately buy it to shoot anyone who bothers you. Whether if the gun is fake or real.

The next aisle you went to check is the second aisle, where many action figures are trap and displayed inside a cardboard box, begging for the kids or customers' attention to set them free…

You shake your heads sadly while looking at them.

Poor things…

You wish you could buy them all so that all of them will be free… You frown.

Too bad you don't have money.

"~"~"~"~"~"

Cars…Sport cars…Taxi…Trucks…Bikes…Busses…Mini wheels

You pass through an aisle of ground vehicles for kids to learn how to drive instead of training for license.

Airplanes…Helicopters…Jets…etc…

You pass through an aisle of air vehicles for kids to learn to fly for them to be future pilots.

Swords, axes, knives, sabers, spears, and some more cool, unique, weird, funny-looking melee weapons use for physical killing… All these melee weapons are useful for children to master their attacking skills to stab and attack the bad guys. That's good. You approve of all of those weapons as you left the aisle.

You pass through a section that belongs to the babies that includes soft and plush toys, interactive toys, small cute little dolls, rattles and teethers and more…

You found baby toys amusing to play with…

Too bad you're not a baby anymore…

"~"~"~"~"~"

There are many different types of toys here. There are constructive toys… educational toys… board game toys… dolls… model building…

Food-related toys…that makes you hungry…

Creative toys…

Stuffed animals…that you wanted to steal so badly.

At the sound toys section, you pass by many instrumental toys such as the robot doing the robot dance, the quacking duck, the monkey doing the monkey dance, the sound control birds, the singing meowing cat…

You look right,

Why not make a few sounds? This Toy Store is awfully quiet… Maybe you can use some of those to call Ven.

You went to the right aisle and pick up the large-size Tarzan figure…. You saw there's a button on his chest, so you decided to go give it a try.

You press it.

_'...!'_

You immediately jump and drop the figure.

The Tarzan's yell just echoed throughout the entire store…!

How _**embarrassing**_...!

You quickly kneel down and return Tarzan back to his respective place so that no one will suspect you… Though you doubt there's anybody here… You decided to try another one.

You pick up a porky pig from the aisle and examine his body parts to search for a sound system.

_The nose_

You guess that in order to make the pig make a sound, you have to squeeze the nose.

You squeeze it.

It suddenly _squeals_. Louder.

You almost drop the porky pig but it's a good thing you manage to catch it or else you might break it into pieces…

You return it back to where it belongs.

You thought of giving one last try…

You decided to try the wolf. So you grab the wolf toy and poke his side.

It let out a _loud_ howl… You quickly poke his side again to stop the loud howling, only to be replace by a loud growling this time, which embarrassingly made you jump.

You tap his side this time, desperate to make the sound stop, only to be replaced by a loud barking.

You drop the wolf by accident, causing it to whimper loudly. You look down in surprise.

You quickly kneel down and grab it, before placing it deeper into the rest of the sound toys so that the endlessly whimpering sound will be muffled. You step back and sigh in relief…

That's better.

You look around for one last time, trying to find a useful sound toy to help you call Ven.

The _whistle_!

You found a tiny whistle just below the corner and quickly rush there. You kneel down and grab the orange whistle before standing up.

You remember back in Rodeo Drive where you and the guys were being chased by the policemen, one of them blows the whistle that makes a 'WHEWWW' sound.

You reach it to your mouth and were about to blow it but stop when you heard the entrance door open…

You immediately turn your head right, hoping that it was Ven who just entered in just now but frown when you see it was only a mother and her young daughter entering in…

You sigh in depress before continue to move to another aisle.

"~"~"~"~"~"

You notice that this Toy Store had a lot of endless aisles, and each aisle has a very large space. The more you visit to the next aisle, the more you found the toys more amusing…

You look at each aisle in interest.

_Interesting_...You thought as you observe everything.

Toys are useful to use when you're still a child… Luckily you're still a child.

Where the _fact _is Ven?

* * *

><p><em>Somewhere trap between the boxes…<em>

Ven slowly opens his eyes.

He blinks when he just read the words from one of the boxes that reads 'Welcome To the _Big_ World'.

He blinks in confusion.

He found himself stuck in between many large boxes and gives another confuse expression…

"Just where am I?" he asks no one in particular.

He pushes the boxes out of the way to view more things clearly, only to end up getting another more boxes to hit his face.

He growls as he falls back again, "Just where the heck did you came from?" he exclaims at the boxes, already frustrated.

"Excuse me? Is… someone there?" asks a young lady voice.

Ven's eyes widen in surprise.

"Yeah! I'm here!" he calls,

"C-Can you tell me why I'm stuck here in the middle of these stupid boxes?" he complains.

Ven heard the lady giggles.

"Oh, you must be the _new_ one! I don't think you're quite aware that you're already belonging here like one of us now!" she said cheerfully.

Ven raise his brow in confusion.

"_What_? What do you mean 'like one of us now'? Just tell me, how to I get out of these stupid boxes so that I'll know where I am now!" he states, already losing his patient.

The lady laughs again,

"So I see you're the _new_ one! Then welcome to the Toy Store!Where all toys were been collected by the shop owner and then collided with another toys. In case you haven't noti~

"_Wait_!" Ven stops her, immediately jolting up in surprise.

He quickly grabs some board boxes that's been surrounding all around him and begins to read one…

His eyes widen.

Logo…

_Dice_…

_**Chess**_…!

_Monopoly!_

All of the boxes surrounding him are _board games_!

He quickly threw all of the boxes aside then finally sees the ceiling.

He climbs up from the large bin and then looks down…

On the ground, all of the boxes that he threw splattered everywhere. And beside the mess, stood a female blond hair, who's wearing a blue uniform. She smiles and wave up at him,

"Hi! I'm Tour Guide Barbie! Allow me to help you tour around the Al's Toy Barn to begin your first settl~

"_Barbie_…?" he gave her a surprise disbelief look.

Tour Guide Barbie nods, smiling "And you must be the new _toy_!" she grins, "It's _nice _to meet you! May I intro~

"_WAIT!_" Ven exclaims, surprise.

He looks down.

"I'm a…T-TOY?"


	17. Chapter 17

**awsomeman13: **Thank you for the liking the story! ^^ I'm happy that I've received another review from people like you This story is basically a role play for readers like you. When you see a sign like this ===, it states your name. Like for example, your name is Venus, then === stands for Venus… Got it memorize…? :D

BTW, I'm terribly sorry for causing a lot of grammar errors… You see, I'm not really good in English. I'm just half Turkish and half Filipino*sweatdrop*. So yeah…. Nobody's perfect hehe

Hope you like this chapter. And if I made another few errors then shoot me…

"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"

Ven lands on the ground and gives Barbie a panic look.

He studies himself again… already freaking out about his sudden unexpected appearance into transforming to a toy figure.

"Just… what is _THIS?_" he yells in panic, while gesturing to himself.

Tour Guide Barbie just gives him a confuse look.

Ven looks up around frantically, observing the aisles all around him. Toys, toys… And more toys…! Toys everywhere! He looks up,

"Could someone explain to me why do I suddenly turn into a _**TOY**_…?" he cries.

Barbie smiles, "Well, you are a _toy_. That's why" she explains simply. Ven gives her a disbelief look. "But _why_? Why am I a _toy_?" he looks down,

"And why am I sooo **small**?"

Barbie smiles "Because you are a _toy_." she stated simply again. Ven glares, "I know! But why?" he asks in frustrate.

Tour Guide Barbie still remains smiling, "You were _born_ that way. That's why you're a _new_ toy!"

Ven signs in frustrate. This is hopeless…

He observes the area again, like to make himself believe that this is all just a joke.

"Would you like me to tour you around to make yourself familiarize around the place for your first stay? Or would you prefer t~" Ven quickly cuts her off,

"_No_!" he gives her a panic look, "I must find my sister! Where is she?"

Tour Guide Barbie looks surprise "You have a sister?" she asked, shocked. Ven nods. She smiles "Oh! So she's new too! Then I cou~

"No! You don't understand! She's human just like me…! We were supposed to~" this time Barbie cuts him off,

"Human? You mean a _toy_?" she laughs in amuse, "If you have a sister, then she must also be a toy just like you. You're both siblings after all" she explains. Ven looks surprise, "You mean, she's also a… toy?" he points to himself, "Like me…?" he asks hesitantly as Barbie smiles and nods.

Ven quickly shakes his head and look down, "No… That can't be…!" he looks up at her and gives a serious look,

"I must go find her!" he exclaims while looking around.

"Don't you want me to tour you around first?" Barbie offers. Ven gives her a look, "I don't have time for that! My little sister is _mute_ and she's probably out there trying to search for me!" he stated.

Tour Guide Barbie gasps in surprise.

"Oh! Then let me_ help_ you go find her" she offers then brings out her mini whistle from her pocket then blows it. After a few seconds, Ven heard a sound of wheels then turns his head to see a blue toy car heading their way.

He gives a surprising look,

"Another _live_ toy…?"

The blue toy car stops in front of them. Barbie the tour guide smiles at him while opening the door to the driver's seat. "_Please _take any seats while I drive us to~" Ven interrupts her,

"Can I drive?" he asked desperately.

Tour Guide Barbie gives him a surprise look

"Do you have a license?"

Ven gives her a questioning look, "What's a license…?"

Barbie smiles and stood up straight, "Well, a license is an identification card where drivers already have the permission to operate a moto~" Ven quickly cuts her off,

"I don't have a license. But can I _please_ drive?" he gives her a pleading look, "I really need to borrow this car urgent…!"

Barbie frowns at him,

"Are you old enough to drive?"

Ven gives her a sly look,

"Is that really _necessary..._?"

Barbie nods, "Yes. Only a legal age of 18 can start to drive with a driver's license or permit. Anyone who's below the age of 18 are still not allowed to~ "_18_?" Ven exclaims in disbelief. He gives her a surprising look,

"Isn't that a little too _old _for someone to begin driving…?"

Tour Guide Barbie smiles "18 was where a person becomes a legal adult and can start a new beginning" she explains. Ven narrows his eyes,

"What about 15, or 16? That's old enough for someone to handle a vehicle…" he states.

"Have you ever driven any vehicle before?" she asks. Ven nods immediately, "Already had the experience. Now can I borrow this?" he asks in a hurry, gesturing to the car.

Barbie smiles and crosses her arms, "Not unless you tell me what are you're driving experience and how do you access the engine"

Ven face palm and groans,

"Do I have to…?" he whines.

Barbie nods, "If you like, I'll just ask you a few questions regarding about the driving rules and the rules of the road just to see if you're qualified enough to drive even without having the learner's permit."

Ven glares at her, "Look, I don't have _time_ for this! - might be already lost somewhere I don't know and might be also far far away from here since we're both new to this world!"

He looks at the car then gives her another pleading look, "_Please_… I'm supposed to look after her" he frowns and looks down, "Not get lost or separated…"

Tour Guide Barbie frowns at him, then smiles again, "Alright. I'll give you exception." Ven's eyes lit up, "Just make sure not to get caught by one of our employees here or customers"

Ven grins then smiles at her, "Really? Thanks!" he quickly reaches to the driver's seat then stop. He looks over his shoulder and gives her a questioning look,

"Uh…Why should we avoid being seen by the people again?"

Barbie smiles, "Because toys aren't suppose to exist. And seeing us toys exist will only cause them a heart attack, leading them to death"

Ven nods slowly in understanding before sliding into the driver's seat.

He looks at her and smiles, "Thanks for letting me borrow this car!"

Tour Guide Barbie smiles "No problem! Just feel free to ask me any questions you'd like to ask and I'll be gladly answering them all for you to help." she calls.

Ven nods with a grin before looking straight and is about to start the engine when Barbie calls,

"And don't forget to always wear a seat belt!" she reminds. Ven looks down, no seat belt found…

"And always check the rear view and side mirrors to make sure that no one sees you while you're driving to avoid freak outs from any customers" Ven searches for any rear view or side mirrors but none seen…

"And take it slow and easy. You might surprise a customer upon seeing a toy figure that wanders around the aisles and could probably get caught without noticing it" Ven nods with a reassuring smile and was about to drive off when Barbie continues, he sighs…

"And always be alert to your surroundings before going to the next area. Make sure to check behind you and in front of you to see if there's any person or toys passing by to avoid any terrible accidents and to ensure your safety." Ven nods and smiles "Okay, got it! Thanks for the ti~

"And watch out for the bigger toys such as the Hungry Snack Time kid, who'd always chomp on a hair and fingers of the other toys if she hasn't been fed well or if she got very hungry. The Spark Gun that's a vintage toy whole real shooting sparks could set plenty of things aflame whenever it got nothing to do and felt bored." Ven nods, making a 'Mhmm' sound

"The Johnny Rebel Cannon that shoots a small cannonball up to 35 feet though with a poor aim…" Ven nods, hoping that she's already done with the warning and tips.

"And other toys such as the guns, throwing stars, pogo ball and the airplanes. Those are one of the most dangerous toys that we have here in Al Toy's Barn. So I suggest that you keep away from them as much as possible to avoid any injuries"

Ven nods, smiling. "Okay! Got them memorized! Thanks for the ad~

"And ~" Ven gives a deadpanned look…

"~avoid driving recklessly to pretend causing any accidents that may lead to a mess such as getting the toys hit by your car or scattering the displayed toys that may have gather around ~

Ven is now tapping his fingers against the empty side window while propping his head on the steering wheel… Giving a bored look

"~ somewhere throughout the different areas… It is always important to drive carefully in order to maintain the area peace and orderly." Barbie smiles again and stood up straight,

"Make sure to always follow the rules and remember it before starting to drive, or else you, the toys or your car might be badly damaged. There is by no means a replacement to going to Drivers Ed. after this incident had been encountered." She grins,

"Now do I make myself clear or would you like me to repeat all of the rules for you again to remember them even more clearly?" she offers, smiling.

Ven quickly sits up straight from his seat after his slumped position then grins up at her, waving it off

"Oh! No thanks hehe… I already got them all memorized (_lies_). Thanks for the tips by the way!" he called, waving before speeding off.

Tour Guide Barbie smiles and nod. She waves,

"Just call me if you need any help!" she called.

"_**~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"**_

You are now in a panic mode.

You don't see Ven anywhere which makes you grow even more worried. One thought absolutely terrifies you…

What if he's in another world…?

Then you're a goner… You'll have to live all by yourself again like for the previous three years without having a permanent house, own clothes, food to eat, water to drink, soft comfortable bed, ice-cr~ _Oh… _You remember you aren't allowed to eat sweets anymore._ Ouch_…

You'll have to risk stealing again which something you don't like to but have to cause that's one of the main tragedy for you to survive. You don't want to repeat that ever again… Your already so use to your new life living with Master Eraqus, Aqua, Terra and Ven. And their like a family to you so losing them is like losing your life.

You went to the 14th aisle this time and yet, see no sign of Ven. You frown… You felt like giving up. You thought it's completely useless to search when no one seems to be inside the store. Not even single person you saw today.

The toys on the 14th aisle you entered consist of all Barbie toys. Instead of calling this the 14th aisle, you thought of calling it the 'Pink Aisle' since this area is made of all pink.

You notice that this pink aisle contains many different types of Barbie such as the Hawaiian Barbie… The Indian Barbie… Chinese Barbie, Korean, African, Japanese, American, Arabian Barbie…etc... There are many Barbie here from different nations. When you turn right, you saw another category of Barbies, such as Angel Barbie, Demon Barbie, you raise your brow at the next one

Super Barbie…?

Chef Barbie… Lawyer Barbie… Fairy Barbie… Witch Barbie… Mermaid… Multi-Millionaire…

Pirate…?

There's a category of bikini Barbies wearing a different type of bikini. Dress-up Barbie with a selection of clothes and dresses to wear… A make-up to apply on their faces…

There are also houses for Barbies to stay… Cars for Barbies to ride… Some cute animals to use as pets…

"Mommy _look_!" a girl suddenly squeals

You turn to see a young blonde girl who's almost the same age as you pointing towards your direction, while holding hands with her mother.

She looks up at her mother and grins, jumping excitedly. "Mommy can I go have a look around, _please_…?" she begs, giving her mommy the cutest eyes. Her mother smiles and pats her head "Sure, go ahead sweetheart. Just pick whatever Barbie you like" she gestures to the Barbie before looking at her daughter again, "I'll be at the cashier once you're done"

The girl squeals again before running towards your pink direction.

You saw her stop at the first section of selectable Barbies then begins to examine them excitedly. You tilt your head slightly,

You forgot that you saw them earlier…

"_**~"~"~"~"~"**_

Ven pressed his foot against the brakeof the car while focusing on the road ahead. He looks at the car in disbelief

"Can't this car move any _faster_?" he groans.

This is really starting to annoy him. _First_, he found himself transforming into a toy. _Second_, he and - are separated which is a major trouble. _Third_, the car he used is very slow…

He groans again and stops driving.

"This is crazy_…_" he mutters under his breath before ditching the car in the middle of the area.

He looks around and decided to ask one of the toys if they've seen you around…

"_**~"~"~"~"~"**_

You were about to leave the aisle but stop when you felt your shoulder being tap from behind.

When you turn around, you saw the girl your age smiles at you then held up a Barbie. You raise your brow.

"_**~"~"~"~"~"**_

Ven approach the first toy he could reach and taps the board box.__

"Hello…?" he studies the toy figure as he continues tapping. "Excuse me, are you…_alive_?" he asks the last word unsurely.

The toy figure from the board box just continues to smile creepily. It is a Mafia Boss figure that's holding a submarine gun while carrying a briefcase with him, making no movements at all.

Ven move on to the next one... This time, he snaps his finger right in front of Manny Pacquiao's face who continues to have a serious expression. Ven waves his hand rapidly at him, who still remains emotionless while doing a boxing stance in front of him. Ven glares at him then flick his serious face. Then, Manny Pacquiao suddenly nods at him and starts moving left and right,

"You like boxing me?" he asks in a challenge.

Ven jumps in surprise then quickly shakes his head, giving a sly expression, "Uh no! I'm just here to ask if yo~

"Yo Manny!"

Mayweather suddenly appears out of nowhere.

Ven quickly steps back as the other boxer approaches next to him then taps Manny's board box. "Let's have a _match _and see who owns the World Championship Title this time!"

Manny Pacquiao glares at him then nods, "Ya let's go!"

Ven and Mayweather__watch as Manny easily slips out of his board box from the backside.

Once he's out, they immediately leapt at each other and started wrestling…

Ven raise his brow in confusion as he watches them both wrestle around frantically. Aren't they supposed to be boxing…?

"Take that Pacman!" Mayweather__exclaims as he continues punching Manny on the face on top of him.

Manny quickly flips them around so that he's now on top of Mayweather.He begins to punch his face with an incredible speed and power

"I'm going to knockyou out!"

They continue to roll around while giving each other punches, causing a few disturbances to the other toys who are trying to make a good impression for the customers

"Hey!"

"_Watch it_!"

"Where's the referee when you need him?"

Ven just shakes his head before moving on to the next one… But quickly skip to the next one once he realized that it's Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street.

"~"~"~"~"

"Hello? Have you seen a small girl walking pass here?" Ven asks a pianist who plays a piano delicately just outside his large board box. The pianist continues to enjoy playing his piano in a gloomy mood, not even noticing that someone is calling him… __

Ven huffs

"Excuse me sir… I was just wondering~

The pianist turns and smiles at him, "Ahh, you must be the new customer… Then please take any seat while I begin my solo…" he gestures to the seats that were being placed in front of his piano.

Ven shakes his head and smiles in apology, "No… Sorry. I'm just here to see if ~

"Oh! So you're here for a job hiring" the pianist grins, "Then please fill-in the application form at the reception desk~" he shows the reception desk "~and tell me what kind of musical instrument that you would like to use so that you could also join one of my band…" he gestures to the musicians who each has their own instruments, one of them smiling at Ven.

Ven smiles back awkwardly before looking at the pianist in apology.

"N-No… Sorry" he shakes his head slowly "I'm only here to search for someone… Just…Just continue to play your piano" he smiles slyly,

"Sorry to bother you…"

The pianist just smiles and waves it off "That's alright… Would you like to hear me play?" he offered while sitting up straight, ready to play the piano. Ven smiles in apology again and shakes his head,

"Uh… I would love to, bu~

"You hear that fellows?" the pianist grins as he looks at his fellow band members who all just grinned and nod.

"Let's hit it!"

The pianist and his band immediately begin to play their own instruments skillfully which forms a nice Jazz music.

Ven watches them in sweat drop.

They seem to be so occupied by their instruments… Maybe they won't notice him disappear after the end of their play. So he sneaks out.

One of them suddenly stops when he noticed that Ven is gone, causing the rest to stop as well.

"Hey, where did that guy go?"

"He's gone!"

"What about our _music_?"

All of them became silent…

The pianist shrug and then smiles, "Oh well… Let's continue!"

They continue play their instruments like nothing just happened.

"**~"~"~"~"~"**

"Hello?"

Ven had no other option but to use the car again. It is the only thing that could help him move faster though it only moves at a normal speed.

"Hello…?" he called again, looking at every aisle to see if any of the toys are alive.

He looks left and right while examining every toy to see if there's any movement or a sign indicating that they are at least alive.

"Is anyone out there alive? A live toy…? Like me?" he called while passing by every toys that's been

Ven sighs when he got no response…

He stops driving and glares up at all of the toys

"Can someone at least _talk_ to me or response so that I know that I'm not crazy talking to nobody…!"

Silence…

Ven waited…

…..

Ven drums his fingers against the empty side window…

…..

Ven looks at his imaginary watch…

…..

Ven glance at his sides out of the corner of his eyes…

…..

Ven looks down and stares at his shoes, suddenly finding it interesting…

…..

Ven looks up again then narrows his eyes…

…..

Ven sighs in frustrate before shaking his head in disbelief, "I can't believe I even bother myself to do this…"

…..

He begins to start the engine

"Wait!"

Ven froze… Did he just heard someone speaking or was it just he's imagination?

He looks around to check if there's someone or anyone calling him… He lifts his eyebrow.

No one seems to be moving from their place. They still remain emotionless on their position. Ven closes his eyes and shakes his head to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating from hearing a voice…

He opens his eyes again and begins to drive

"Wait!"

Ven halts to a stop then looks around frantically, trying to figure out where that voice came from…

He gives the area a confusing look when none of the toys made any movement or doesn't seem to be moving at all.

"Did someone just called?" he asks out loud for the 'voice' to hear.

…..

Ven quickly looks up when he saw a movement coming up from the aisle.

He immediately gets off the car then starts climbing up the aisle by grabbing the edge of the shelf. Then pulls his self up to reach the second unit… He jumps again to grab the edge of the third shelving then pulls up, placing himself on the third unit.

He carefully rushes to the area where he thought the movement came from while avoiding hitting or bumping the other toys next to him.

Ven just spotted a moving toy just a few miles away from him. He quickly follows the trail to that area and tried to take a full view of that movable toy.

As he went closer, he notices that it was a kid, whose size is thrice bigger than him.

"Uh… Hello?" Ven called, unsurely.

The cute kid just continues to suckle on her thumb, completely ignoring Ven as she continues to wander around, seeming to be searching for something…

Ven raises his brow in amuse, "Do you… need any help?" he asked unsurely again.

"Mama…"

Ven raises both of his eyebrows in confuse. "Mama…?" He looks around the aisle confusingly before looking at her again

"Er… Where you the 'voice' who called me earlier…?"

"Mama…" was the kid's response again.

Ven looks around the aisle in wonder before giving her a questioning glance "Were you looking for your…_mama_?"

"Mama!"

Ven jumps in surprise when the kid suddenly exclaims. He gives her a confusing look, "Huh?"

"Mama!" The kid suddenly notices him and then her eyes widen, "_Mama_…!"

Ven slowly backs away…giving her a strange look.

"Sorry… I'm not your uh…'mama'. I think you've mistaken me for someone else"

The kid glares "Mama!" then slowly walks to him, "_Mama_! _**Mama**_!"

Ven quickly steps away…

He waves his hands frantically at her while shaking his head, "Look, I'm not your mama or anything…" he smiles apologetically, "And I don't think we're even related…~ "_Mama_!"

The big kid suddenly lunges at him. Almost about to grab him but luckily Ven manages to jump out of the way just in time.

He quickly steps back

"Woah…! Look kid, I'm not who you think you are and I don't even know you!" he gestures to himself "See? I'm just a _new _toy, meaning I'm just new here ~ "Mama!"

The big kid lunges at him again, this time manages to grab his arm and about to place it on her mouth

Ven's eyes widen

"H-_Hey_! What are you do~

Ven was suddenly tackle to the ground

"What are you, _crazy_?" a commando figure just scolded at him.

Ven looks at him in weirdo "What? What are you talking about?"

The commando figure gets off on top of him then points at the kid, who was also thrown to the ground as well.

"Are you trying to get eaten by the hungry snack kid?" he gives him an '_are you crazy_' look "She could have chop your head off in a sec!"

Ven slowly sat up then looks at the kid in bewildered.

"But I thought she's searching for her _mama_…"

"Mama!"

The hungry snack kid quickly makes her way towards them. The two of their eyes' widen.

"Quick! Get in the car!" the commando commanded.

Ven looks at him in disbelief, "But how about you?" The commando glares at him, "This is no time for asking questions! Just do as I say! Now _go..._!"

The commando was then grabbed by the hungry big kid.

"Mama…"

Ven quickly stood up and looks at the two in horrid. The commando quickly points at the car

"D-Don't mind me son! Just go save yourself…!"

Ven eyes widen, then glares

"No! I'm not leaving you alone!" he protested.

The commando's head was about to be chomp off, "Gooooo**…**!"

"_Nooooo_…!"

The commando's head is dangerously close to the kid's wide open mouth.

Without a second thought, Ven immediately summons his keyblade then quickly targets and strikes it at the kid's arm.

It hits the kid's arm which causes the commando to drop to the ground. The kid let out a wild cry and grabs her broken arm as Ven's keyblade return to him.

Ven rushes to the commando then helps him get up.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern.

The commando looks at him then nods. The two of them turns their head to see the hungry kid scream in anger. It then let's out a tantrum and hits every toy that's nearest to her.

"Looks like the kid finally loses her control…" Commando stated. He looks at Ven, "Quick! To the blue car!" he commanded.

The two hurriedly makes their way to the car. Both of them grab the driver's door at the same time. They look at each other

"Let me drive! As a commando, I am responsible to lead us the way!"

Ven gives him a disagree look

"This is my car! So I _own _it! Go take a seat"

The Commando narrows his eyes and brings his face closer to him

"Look kid… I also have my rights to use this car. And besides, aren't you a little too young to be driving?"

Ven glares at him, "So what? At least I _can _drive…! Age is just a number!" he defends.

The hungry kid extends her arms and walks faster to reach them. The two of them looks at her in panic.

The commando looks at Ven,

"You know what? You drive! But I'll lead the way!" he ordered as he quickly went to the passenger's seat. Ven nod as he hops over the driver's seat. "**Mama!**" the kid shouted.

Ven looks at the commando in confuse,

"Why does the kid always keep saying 'mama'?" The commando looks at him, eyes glinting with steely conviction

"Mama is what she calls to anyone who fed her! Now _drive_!"

Ven looks at him in curious, "Anyone who fed her? But why am I included when I didn't even feed her?" then he realizes something…

"Wait," he raises his brow at him "But isn't she a _toy_? Can toys even feel _hungry..._?"

The commando gives him a disbelief look, "That's why she's called the 'Hungry Snack Kid'! That's how the toy makers created her. Now are you gonna start driving or keep asking me questions?"

"Were you the _voice_ who called earlier?"

The hungry snack kid is just a few centimeters away to grab the car. The commando's eyes widen.

He quickly leans over the driver's seat and pressed his foot against the brake.

"MAMA…!" the kid screamed.

The commando glares at Ven, "Now go _drive!_" he points his finger at the road.

Ven nods then begins to grab on the steering wheel and drive.

"_Wait!_"

Ven slams his foot on the brake and turns the car over. The commando gives him an 'are you crazy' look.

"Are you out of your mind kid? Are you trying to get us~ "_Shh!_" Ven interrupted him with a glare. The commando gives him a questioning look.

"You heard that?" Ven asked while looking around. The commando gives him a glare,

"Yeah of course I heard _that_! What would gave you the right to '_shush_' me when I'm your comman~

Ven quickly places his hand over the commando's mouth for him to shut up while giving him a glare. The commando gives him a glare back…

"Mmhft aryumffh cryzz!"

"_Shhh...!"_

The commando finally went silence and gives him the 'look'.

Ven looks back and sees the hungry snack kid rummages around the aisle. The commando manages to get rid of Ven's hand off his mouth and looks at him with narrowed eyes

"_Why'd you just stopped?_" he whispered harshly before looking at the hungry snack kid in curious.

Ven did not answer but just motion for him to be quiet…

The commando now looks even more curious.

The hungry snack kid just grabbed a toy figure which happens to be a Priest.

"No! Please…! Have _mercy_ on me!" it begs.

Ven quickly hops off the driver's seat then runs straight to them. The commando's eyes widen, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Ven ignored him and continues to run.

The commando shakes his head before hopping over to the driver's seat. He turns the car over to face the three.

"Kids these days…" he muttered before following Ven.

Ven summons his keyblade then strikes it at the kid's unbroken arm. The kid cries out loud again and drops the Priest who luckily manages to land his back on the backseat of the car.

Ven's keyblade returns to him as the commando stops the car next to him

The commando looks at him

"Quick! Get back in!"

Ven gives the crying kid a sorry look before sliding to the passenger's seat. The commando drives right away.

The commando looks at the keyblade in amuse, "What the heck is that _thing_?"

Ven looks down at his keyblade then suddenly realizes that it is still there. He quickly throws it aside as it was nothing then gives the commando an emotionless look.

"Oh. That's just another toy I picked up earlier… Nothing usual"

The commando just grunts and continues to drive.

Ven secretly vanish his keyblade while sitting normally.

The Priest suddenly sits up straight from the back seat "Oh bless you child! You had s_aved _me from the wrath of that evil kid…! How could I ever repay you?"

Ven immediately looks at him, "So you're the _one _who called up earlier…"

The Parish smiles and nod, "Yes indeed my child… And you must be the new toy"

Ven gives an irritate look, "_Unfortunately_…."

"And you're here to search for someone am I right?''

Ven gives him a surprising look

"How'd you know…?"

"I heard you from the next aisle, asking if anyone of us have seen a small girl… Is she related to you or something…?"

"A small girl…? I think I've saw someone walking pass by our aisles earlier. But to us toys, we call it the 'big' girl" stated the commando.

Ven looks at him too in surprise

"So is she _human_?" he asked with hope.

The commando nods, "Yeah she is…" he gives him a questioning look, "And why would a _new_ toy like you be searching for a human?"

Ven gives a wry look

"It's a _long_ story…"

"**~"~"~"~"~"**

Few Barbies are scattered everywhere on the ground... Some were already out of their boxes and are lying next to it.

You are now holding a Barbie figure on your hand after being force to play dress-up by that girl…

She smiles at you then shows you her blond-haired Barbie who was now wearing a white night gown dress with white heels, making the Barbie look like an angel.

"Now show me yours…!" she said excitedly.

You smile back wryly, thinking that you have no time for this before showing her you're dressed up Barbie. She leans closer to examine your work…

It's has a complete opposite look compared to her angel-like Barbie. You've just styled your Barbie the total gothic look… After letting her wear an all black night grown dress, heels and shoulder bag. It also matches your Barbie's look since she also has a black hair.

She grins and nods approvingly at you,

"Ohh…! I _love_ it!" she squeals which makes you wince.

She quickly grabs another Barbie from the ground and begins to strip her off. She motions for you to pick up another Barbie from the ground which you reluctantly did… You pick a random Barbie.

"Let's do another one!"

You stiffen. Not again… After playing with this girl for quite a while, you realized that she's one heck of a Barbie-addict. Once started, there's no ending… Or so you've thought…

You slowly begin to strip off your Barbie while searching for any random dresses or clothes to make it quick. From straight ahead, you saw that the girl is slowly taking her time while humming her favorite song…

You sigh before taking out a large blue t-shirt and yellow rugged jeans to put it on the Barbie. You stop.

You secretly took a peek to see what kind of dresses or clothes that the girl chosen to dress her Barbie.

Pink halter top and light blue miniskirt…

You have an idea.

"**~"~"~"~"~"**

"So you're saying that, you've been a _human_ since you were born?" the commando asked with a raise brow. Ven nods quickly with serious look,

"Yes! It's all just a misunderstanding! You see, I'm not really a new~

"So you were being reincarnated after losing your sister?" asked the Priest with full amuse. Ven looks at him and nods curtly,

"Yeah… Something like _that_. But I'm not meant to be a new toy, I've just _transformed_ into one. I'm originally just a human"

"~figure" the commando interrupted

Ven glares at him, "No!" he shakes his head rapidly, already frustrated "This isn't how am I suppose to be!" he gestures to himself, messing with his toy arms and head. He looks at the two,

"I weren't meant to be a toy! I was born ~ "Then why are you a toy?" the commando interrupted, again, while driving.

Ven face slaps.

He groans "You know what? Just forget it…" he crosses his arms and glares straight ahead, already giving up. They just don't get it…

"Let's just go find her quick"

The Priest leans over to the front and smiles at him, "I think I know the girl who you're referring to…" he states. Ven looks at him in wide-eyed "Really? Who?"

The Priest grins, "Why, your sister of course… Who else would be?" The commando suddenly laughs out loud. "Whahahaha! Nice one! I'll give you credit for that!" the commando exclaimed. They both gave each other a high-five while laughing together.

Ven glares…

"That's not _funny_!" he argues while clenching his fists.

The commando drives clumsily while laughing hysterically "Oh come on kid! Can't you take any _jokes_?" Ven glares at him,

"_Joke_? You think this is a time for joke when me and my kid sister are in problem?"

The commando rolls his eyes

"Just _chill_ kid… You're taking this way too seriously" he drives calmly, "Your kid sister is just around here somewhere…" he reassured. Ven still keeps his glare…

"And how would you know that…?" he raises his brow at him.

"Because I know" the commanded stated simply. The Priest quickly covers his mouth and shakes timidly. Ven gives an annoyed look…

….

Snorts

"Hahahahahah!" the two finally breaks down. They both high-five again "I love teasing that kid…!" the commando states. "That's a nice comeback you got there…" the Priest complimented, smiling.

Ven snaps his head at them

"That's it!"

He quickly leans over the driver's seat then grabs the steering wheel

"I'm driving!"

The commando looks at him in surprise "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" he glares at him. Ven glares at him back,

"Since you're not focusing on the road at all, I think I should be the one to drive! Now get up!"

The commando holds on the steering wheel firmly then glares at him like he's insane, "Sit back down kid! You're in the way!"

Ven doesn't move but continues to block his way "No! I'm not sitting unless you let me drive…!"

The Priest's eyes widen when he saw that they are about to crash a group of displayed box of toys at the middle of the road…

"Guys…! Watch out!" he points at the road.

Ven and the commando look at the road with wide eyes

O_O


	18. Chapter 18

"_Watch out_!"

They are about to hit the toys that were being displayed at the center of the road. Ven still refuses to sit back on his chair while the commando is having trouble taking his hands off the steering wheel. The priest covers his face with his arms in fear for the upcoming impact

"Oh dear Lord…!" He braced himself.

The commando manages to push Ven back to his seat before grabbing the steering wheel harshly. Ven looks at him in disbelief.

"Hang still!" the commando commanded.

Before the commando was able to turn the car sideways, Ven leaps off from his seat and then grabs the steering wheel fiercely, which turns the car over wildly and safely out of the toys way.

"What are you doing?" the commando yelled while holding the steering wheel firmly, "You're gonna cause us some accidents!"

Ven glares at him "It's your fault!"

Commando looks at him in confuse, "Wha~ What?"

The Priest slowly releases his arms from his face and sighs in relief after seeing that they're no longer about to hit the displayed toys. Ven suddenly turns the steering wheel on the right.

The priest from his seat slides off to the left.

"W~Whoa…!"

He glares at the two from the front seat after hitting the door "_Jeez_… Drive carefully" He scolded before adjusting his clerical clothing.

The commando looks at Ven in disbelief before roughly turning the steering wheel on the left "Get back to seat! Let me do the driving!" The priest slides from his seat to the right and hits the other door.

"Ow…~" he groaned.

Ven shakes his head stubbornly before turning the steering wheel on the right "I _own_ this car! I should be the one driving!"

The priest hits his head on the seat… He slowly pushes himself up and reaches for the car door handle.

The commando bends forward a bit in attempt to give Ven less space and turns the steering wheel on the left again "I bet this car doesn't belong to yours!"

The priest fails to hold the car handle and instead, falls and hits his back on the seat "_Oof_!"

Ven bends forward to fight for more space while turning the steering wheel on the right "Y~You bet it wrong!" He struggles to get the commando out of the driver's seat "No one drives this car but me!"

"Ohh…" the priest moaned before slowly pushing himself up again. He rubs his temple before giving another try to grab the door handle…but, sadly failed once again when the commando jerked the steering wheel to the left. This time he hit face-first on the seat.

The commando wrinkles his brows at Ven while firmly keeping his grip on the steering wheel to keep it turning to the left

"And why is that…?"

Ven narrows his eyes at him

"Cause you _can't _drive…"

The commando's eyes widen in surprise as Ven wildly turns the steering wheel on the right. The commando glares at him before gripping on the steering wheel and turning it on the other side angrily "That's all _lies_!"

The priest gets up before looking up… His eyes widen.

Wrong. Move.

The car is now madly turning all the way to the left like a spinning wheel…Causing the entire scenery around them to blur. The priest suddenly felt dizzy then collapse…

The car continues to keep spinning until Ven quickly pulls down the level, causing the car to stop abruptly, and the two to bump against each other…

After a few seconds, the two slowly get off each other then holds and shakes their head to clear their vision… They look at the steering wheel at the same time before secretly giving each other a glance.

The two immediately grabs the steering wheel at the same time and hits the brakes just as the priest gets up after recovering from the dizziness. The car starts moving left and right rapidly, causing the priest to slide off and to his seat left and right again.

"Let me drive!" Ven argued.

"No! You're way too _young_ to drive!" the commando argued back as he jerks the car to the left.

Ven glares at him fiercely before turning the car right "At least I _know _how to drive!"

The commando glares at him back while turning the car fiercely to the left "Oh yeah? Is this what you call driving?"

The priest finally manages to grab the door handle to his luck and sighs in relief while closing his eyes…Trying to block out their argument to calm himself down.

When he opens his eyes, he suddenly regrets it.

"Guys…! _Look out_!"

Ven and the commando snap out it and see that they're about to hit an aisle that is just a few meters away from them. Their eyes widen

Ven and the commando look at the steering wheel that they're both holding and don't know which one of them should be the one to turn it over... The priest quickly shields his face with his arms for protection while the two at the front are still frozen on their place.

"_Oh my Lord_!" the priest screamed.

The priest's screamed alerted the two which makes them both immediately to turn the steering wheel to move the car to the other side…Only to end up colliding on the aisle since they did it a bit too _late_. The car already made contact with the aisle and create a crashing noise…

The few toys from the aisle fell from above and hit one of them who are now all sprawled on the ground. The car is lying to its side right after them and looks a little bit rusty than before after that nasty hit.

"Oh God…" the priest moaned (…) from the ground.

Ven and the commando are still recovering from that accident as the priest slowly sat up and realize how much mess they've caused on this area. Few boxes of toys are scattered around them.

After observing the mess they've created, the priest thought he spot something moving out of the corner of his eyes. Perhaps it's just another toy, he thought. But when he turned his head, he froze.

_Human_!

No, _wo_man! There's a human woman about to make her way to their direction…! The priest started shaking uncontrollably and quickly crawls his way to the two who are now sitting up slowly while rubbing their temples.

"_Guys!_" he whispered and started shaking the commando which only gets him more dizzy. "W~W~_WHAT?_" the commando shouted while glaring at the priest.

The priest slaps the commando to Ven's surprise and glares at him. The priest quickly points at the approaching woman

"_Look_!" he whispered loudly.

Ven and the commando stare wide-eyed at the human figure as the priest's eyes gets wider. Without thinking twice, the three immediately start jolting up and look around frantically for a place to hide.

"_Quick_!_ Hide_!" commando whispered

The priest luckily manages to find a hiding spot by placing himself under a pile of fallen toy boxes while the two are still having trouble searching for a hiding spot.

"What's that noise?" a woman's voice called.

The two freeze at their place and turn their heads to see the woman almost about to reach their area from the other side. The commando turns his head at Ven as he already came up with an idea

"_Change of plan!_ _Quick! Let's turn into 'lifeless'_" he instructed before falling into his back and remains emotionless. Ven looks at him in confuse

"Wait~_What_?"

A sound of high heels is getting closer to their direction which only adds more tension to Ven's situation right now. He had no idea what the commando meant by saying the word 'lifeless' and don't know what is he suppose to do with it.

"_What are you still doing up there?_" the commando whispered to him harshly "_Hurry! Be on your lifeless figure__**!**_"

The word 'figure' suddenly caught Ven's attention. He looks down at himself and realizes that he almost forgot he's also a _toy _figure himself and finally get's the commando's idea.

He looks at the commando and saw that his face shows no emotion or feelings whatsoever. Since Ven doesn't like to be like the commando, he has to think of an expression to look like the exact opposite of the commando's look.

So he smiles.

Ven falls on his back beside the emotionless commando with a smile plastered on his face and act 'lifeless' just in time as the woman with short dirty blonde hair somewhere in her 30's appeared on their aisle.

The woman observe the scattered toys everywhere with a confuse look on her face.

"Huh?"

She kneels down before grabbing the blue toy car, observing it while giving it a confuse look. Ven is having a bit trouble keeping the smile since he felt a little nervous for the first time pretending to be a lifeless figure. He has no idea have much tension this gives…

"What happened here…?" the woman wondered out loud.

The woman places the car back on the ground on its four wheels before standing up. She looks down at the mess again and then shakes her head.

"What a mess…" she stated before leaving.

When the woman is safely out of sight, the priest peek his head out from under the boxes and then lets out a relief sigh "That was _really _close…" he said while crawling out.

The commando jolts up from his lying position then rushes to the car. He hops over the driver's seat then looks over his shoulder "Come on guys! We got no time to mess around!" he started the engine

"We got sister to find…"

Ven and the priest nod in agree before running to the car. Ven takes his current place at the front seat beside the commando while the priest takes the backseat again. The commando started driving.

Ven looks at the commando "Let's check out every aisle. You guys said that you've seen her wandering around here somewhere earlier right?" he asked with full of hope. The two nod.

"I'm not sure if it's her, but there seems to be two of them. The woman whom we saw earlier was with one of them…" the commando stated. Ven looks surprise at this. "Two of them…?"

"Yeah, was she the one?" the commando asked, looking at him. Ven slowly shakes his head, "No. That wasn't her… That's the other one" "Then the other one with no one is your sister?" asked the priest.

Ven nods "Yes, that's her! She still must be around here somewhere…! She _should_ be!"

The priest gasp "You don't say…!"

"Then we got to search the entire place" said the commando while speeding up the car.

So they left the mess behind and continue forth for (continue…)

"_**~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"**_

Back at the pink aisle, you are still stuck playing dress up Barbie (much to your dislike) with the young girl who appears to be around your age (4-5).

"Ohhh…!" she smiles and claps happily "Love it!" she exclaimed.

You stare at her in disbelief before looking at the Barbie that you're holding… You simply dressed your Barbie with long sleeve purple jacket with a simple plain grey t-shirt underneath it. You even let her wear a slouch pants and a very ugly looking sandals to give her a complete out of style look. And she _loves _this?

The outfit she chose for her Barbie is as usual, stylish and always matches perfectly. She let her Barbie wear a white collar shirt with pink scarf tied around the collar of her neck and pink poodle skirt. You have to admit…that girl got some pretty good fashion senses. She's pretty good for a girl her age…You thought.

The girl takes your Barbie and hers and places them back on the playset. Is it finally over? You thought, hoping that she finally gives up playing with you so that you can finally find Ven who might probably thought that you've gone missing. Or maybe you are..

But to your horror, she took out four new Barbies then hands you two of them, keeping the other two for her to use. Then she adds more clothing and dresses in front of you both for more dress up… She smiles brightly at you.

You look down at the two Barbies being held on your hand…

She still wants to play with you…? You gave her a bit of a strange look.

But isn't she tired of your previous hideous dress-over of your Barbies? After many attempts of trying to give your Barbies the possible worst looking dress-over ever…, you guess you have failed the idea to give them a 100% ugly look just to let her stop playing with you…

When you look up, the girl already started dressing one of her Barbies while rummaging through the new wardrobe.

To you, this is like an endless gameplay with no result… No matter what looked you gave your Barbie, none of them were being recorded. You guess that in the end it doesn't even matter…

This is not what you have in mind...

You watch as she is already done dressing her first Barbie. Now is she dressing the second one…while you haven't even started yet…! You look down at your Barbies again… _Think ===. Think!_

You need to figure out a plan to get out here as soon as possible…! You already wasted enough time here.

You heard the girl slowly hums to her favorite song again. Looks like she's in another bright mood as usual…While yours is gloomy_**.**_.. You look over your previous 'ugly' Barbies. None of them seems to affect her…You figured as you watch her almost done dressing her second Barbie.

You hesitantly look at your Barbies for the third time.

You don't really want to play anymore… You are already aware that you are wasting so much time. Come to think of it, this is like a trap game. What is it that you've done wrong (or right) to make her want to play with you in the first place?

You think thoroughly, trying to remember the pieces of memories you regretfully did.

The girl swiftly turns over at you and shows you her proud work…Only to see you still sitting there. Not even a tiny bit of change has been made to your two new clients. She frowns…

You snap out of it after realizing the confuse expression she had gave.

You suddenly realize why after looking at your Barbies. Oh. You smile sheepishly at her. Well, that was awkward… It seems like she is already done with her Barbies. Just like the usual, stylishly fitting and very creative. You have to admit… She's better than you.

You gave her thumbs up for her work, secretly wishing that she knew that you don't want to play anymore…

She reluctantly smiles at you before eyeing your 'untouched' Barbies again… You notice it too and did the exact same thing to her Barbies.

Suddenly, an idea struck you. You smile…

You held up the two untouched Barbies in front of her. She raises her eyebrows in confuse. You smile.

Yup…You decided that your two untouched Barbies are also your finishing work. That you chose not to dress them... You can't wait to see her reaction.

She slightly gives you a wry look, feeling a bit uneasy… You just gave her an innocent smile and look. Maybe this will finally make her bored to play with you.

This time another clever idea has been formed inside your head…

"_**~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"**_

_5 minutes later…_

The toy store seems to be empty despite the woman they encountered earlier. Not many customers are in the Al Barn's Toy lately…Which makes Ven wonder, he looks at the two

"Hey, how come there's no one in this store yet?" Then he realizes what he just said. He shakes his head "No… Scratch that. I mean, why is this store looks empty?" he corrected himself.

The commando from the driver's seat looks at him in disbelief "Are you kidding me? It's like 7 am here in the morning…! Can't you tell by just looking at the sky?"

Ven glares at him "Well, I would have know if it wasn't for me being _stuck _here as a _toy_!" he defended.

The priest from behind leans to the front and turns to face Ven

"Actually, Al Barn's Toys rarely gets any customers on the early days since it is called the 'busy' days" he explained. Ven raises his brow at him, "Busy days…?"

"It's where people are busy doing their jobs while kids go study at the school. That's what it's called the 'Busy' days…" the commando states, emphasizing the word 'busy'. Ven narrows his eyes at him,

"I should have _known_…" he said sarcastically. Captain obvious…

"It is only during the days that the Al Barn's Toys gets active with many customers…" the priest explained "And in weekends where mornings are the first ones to get active _instead_ of the afternoons."

Ven slowly nods "Now I see." He looks around "No wonder it's awfully quiet…" he stated while still observing the areas. The commando snorts "Quiet?" he chuckles then shakes his head. He glances at Ven,

"Kid, what you don't know is… At this 'time' of the day, every toy here gets wild awake and do some crazy stuff like you've never seen before…" he stated while gesturing around the aisles. This time, Ven chooses glance around the aisles instead of the silent road ahead.

The commando's right… It seems that every toy on the aisles is active during the early hours. Some of them are toy figures who are trap inside their very own box. From what Ven can see, majority of the toys are having some quality time with the other toys such as chatting, where one of them were already free from their boxes and decided to go blend in with the others. There's even a group of orgy where toys are gathered together and are having some 'mingle' time such as playing their own character through their figure.

When Ven turned his head to the other aisle, there's a battle going on between a ninja and a pirate, where two of them are rummaging around through the shelves, causing a few disturbances to a bunch of other toys doing some different activities. Some toys just chosen to stay inside their boxes for safety… Not wanting to risk their life getting caught being alive by people.

It took a while for Ven to realize that toys that are being alive also have some similar traits of humans in real life. Where he observes that some of them are just doing some normal daily things in life that humans would do such as the Karate Instructor teaching his class of grown men how to self defense by demonstrating the moves. A muscular man who continues to lift the heavy weight lifting equipment… A dancer dancing to his music and plenty of other toys that has their own life just like the outside world…

There's even a battle going on by several fighter toys such as the robots, aliens, samurais, boxers, wrestler and many more. This amazes Ven…

It's like living in a Toy World. And he already felt like he's a part of it…

"Chaos huh?" said the commando, glancing at him while driving. "It may look like its quiet in the mornings, but toys are more likely to get noisy during that part" he stated. The priest smiles at Ven,

"And later when afternoon comes, toys will abruptly turn silence once customers start barging their way in through this store. Very vice versal if you ask me…" he smiled. Ven nods

"Interesting…" he mused.

Ven continues to watch the active toys in interest from aisles to aisles as the commando continues driving around the areas.

He wonders what's it's like to live in a Toy World…

"_**~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"**_

For what's been like several minutes of searching through several aisles in hope of finding ==, there's still no luck in seeing her. This only concerns Ven even more…

"How many aisles that we haven't check yet?" Ven asked in a hurry while looking at the two expectedly.

The commando looks up at the aisles that they're now in. "Hmm… Might be 20 more or so…" he guessed. Ven's eyes suddenly turn to a size of plate

"_WHAT!_"

"You heard me…" the commando said unemotionally. Ven studies the areas of the store once more.

For a size like him, this entire store looks twice larger than an average-size person would look. Maybe finding = = = won't be as easy as it looks… He didn't expect this to be quite difficult.

"If you want, we'll just take a shortcut or skip a few aisles to make it quicker" suggested the commando. Ven looks at him in disbelief, "Are you _serious_? What if we miss the aisles that has her there?"

"Simple. We come back later" said the commando. Ven slaps his forehead…

How _logical_…

They are now in between another area of long-size aisles with different toys that doesn't to suit to kids who are under 5 years old. The toys here involve more about sports, vehicles, trains & remote control, electronics, and bikes & riding toys.

It seems that the toys here only belong to kids who are at least older enough to use them…(Ven thought) This area doesn't seem to be suitable for kids who are like = = ='s type or kids her age. She might not be interested into coming here at least…Since it doesn't seem to fit her.

"I don't think this is the place where she'll like to come and visit" Ven declared.

He looks at the commando "We gotta check somewhere else…" The commando looks at him back "And what if we miss her?"

Ven gives him a funny look

"Are you serious?" he gestures to the area they're in "Do you really think that my sister would come to a place like _this_?" The commando gives him back a funny look

"Well _duh_…"

Ven gives him a strange look

"Do you really think that this place was only designed for boys?" Ven jumps a bit slightly

"Then think again…"

Ven reluctantly observes around the area again…

What the commando said is right. Sure enough, there are some toys here that can be also use by girls. But this area's look seems to be more like it was especially designed for boys. Only.

But is it also for both genders?

"You're _kidding_, right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"_WATCH OUT_!" the priest suddenly yelled.

A sudden toy cannonball just hit the ground beside them, which made them jump up their seats by surprise. The commando's eyes remained widen "What the~

"_Here comes another one_!" the priest yelled again while pointing at the air in front

Before the commando could react, Ven immediately bolts out from his seat and turns the steering wheel to the left just as another cannonball was about to hit them.

The commando stares up straight with wide shock "Where did _that _come from?" he yelled.

Ven quickly sits back at his seat. "We gotta get out of here!" he exclaimed as another cannonball hit pass them.

"_Sweet Lord…_!" the priest shrieked while staring at the cannonball that almost hit them.

Ven gives the commando a 'strange' look

"_Drive_!" he snapped.

The commando snaps out of it and immediately steps on the brake "Avoid getting hit by those balls!" Ven exclaimed while gesturing to the continuously shooting cannonballs that keeps coming to their way.

The commando successfully managed to dodge a few cannonballs while speeding up forward. Some cannonballs barely hit them due to poor aiming while some are dangerously close to hitting the poor priest from the backseat.

"_Eek!" _he shrinks back in fear "That was _dead_ close…!"

The commando snaps his head at them both "Just what is _attacking_ us?"

"_HOLY BALLS_!" the priest shrieked again when another cannonball almost hit him.

Ven snaps his head at him "What does it look like?" he exclaimed just as a cannonball flew past his side. The commando faces the road again and tries to observe where all of those cannonballs came from… Only to get the front car view hit by a cannonball. Ven gives him a fierce look, "Watch where you're driving!" he snapped.

The priest from the backseat does the sign of the cross and starts praying.

Cannonballs keep coming rapidly into their way…, making it harder for them to continue onwards. The commando stops driving at the middle of the road, earning a 'are you crazy' look from Ven.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to get us hit by those- "_Sweet balls!_" the priest yelped when a cannonball suddenly appeared and hit the backseat beside him, which interrupted his prayers. He stared at it wide-eyed before slowly holding it up to examine it.

"It seems like we are the target" the commando stated. Ven gives him an annoyed look

"Of course we are…! That's why they're hitting us!" he exclaimed.

The commando gives him a serious look "We need to create some form of distraction...! The Johnny Rebel cannon won't stop until one of his cannonballs hit us" he explained.

Ven gives him a disbelief look "And you think _stopping_ can distract it?"

The commando gives him back a disbelief look "No silly!" he points at the Cannon toy that is just a few miles away from them on the third shelf of the aisle. "The only thing that can stop the Cannon from targeting us is by distracting it!" He narrows his eyes… "And the only thing that can stop it is _me_…"

Ven and the priest give him a surprising look

"What do you mean…?" Ven asked, curious.

The commando looks at them both with full determination "I'll have to run over to that Cannon to have it only focus on me, while you two make a run for it." Ven gives him a disbelief look "_What_! But how about…" A cannonball just appeared pass them unexpectedly, making them three jump.

The commando places his hand on Ven's shoulder, giving him a reassuring look "You said you wanted to drive right? So here's your chance" He smiles to Ven's surprise (This is the first time he ever seen the commando smile)

"Don't screw things up while I'm at it alright?" he called before hopping out of the blue car and makes a run for it. Ven stares at him wide-eyed

"_But_…!" he extended his arm

The Cannon toy from above the aisle saw a figure running to its way and is now aware that it has one new target. Commando quickly looks back at Ven while running forward to the Cannon

"Quick! Drive NOW!" he shouted.

Ven hesitantly looks at the driver's seat before back at the commando…

The commando is already climbing his way up at the aisle to reach the Cannon which is now focusing its target on him. Ven gives him a worried look…

"What are you still doing sitting there?" the priest called from the backseat "Get over to the driver's seat and drive!" he points at the driver's seat.

Ven still finds it hard to leave the commando behind. The commando finally manages to put himself on the third shelf and is now running towards the Cannon, while dodging a few various cannonballs that's been shooting to him. When he looks down, he was surprise to see that Ven still hasn't move from his seat yet.

"Get back in here!" Ven called.

The commando stops on his tracks and gives Ven a pure look of disbelief. Ven and the priest's eyes turn widen.

"LOOK OUT!" they both pointed and yelled at the same time.

The commando immediately dodges the incoming cannonball before leaping over the Cannon toy and starts attacking. He gives the two another serious look

"Don't worry about me…!" he called while messing with the Cannon toy. He turns his head to look at Ven "Worry more about your _sister…_!" Ven's eyes immediately widen when he mentioned 'sister'. He almost forgot…

_= = =!_

"She's probably still looking for you! Don't keep her _waiting_!"

Ven nods with narrow eyes before shifting over to the driver's seat. He pressed his feet against the brake and starts the engine. "Quick! Get us out of here!" Priest exclaimed. Ven nods once again and starts driving.

He stops at the aisle for a moment to where the commando is and gives him a concern look.

"Will you be _alright_?" he asked concerned.

The commando who is now taking control of the Cannon nods in reassurance and motions for them to go on. "_Of course _I'll be alright! Now get out of here _quick _before things might get worse…!"

Ven nods and grabs the steering wheel.

"Oh, and good luck in finding your sis…" commando added. "Be careful"

Ven smiles a bit and nod "Thanks… You too" he said before driving ahead, feeling a bit guilty of leaving the commando behind but had no choice. The priest from behind sighs in relief

"Thank Goodness…" he breathed.

They are now leaving the area to move on to the next aisle since there are several aisles here on Al Barn's Toy to look to. The priest relaxes his back against the seat and looks at the back of Ven's head

"Looks like it's just you and me now sonny boy…"

"Yeah…" Ven agreed, already missing the commando.

They have successfully left the area they're in earlier and are now in another new area with many aisles to choose from… Ven sighs. Looks like this is gonna take forever…  
>The priest from the backseat suddenly has an idea. He snaps his fingers<p>

"Hey, I know! You said your sister is up to 5 years old right?" he asked. "Yeah…?"

The priest smiles brightly "Then she must be at the 'Childhood' section or section for kids like her age…! That must be where she was hanging!" he clarified. Ven looks at him expectedly "Do you think that's where she went?"

The priest nods vigorously "Yes, she must be! No doubt about it. There are few aisles that we got to look though…" he stated. Ven nods,

"That's fine by me…! At least it'll save us some time. Just tell me the directions that lead to the 'Childhood' section" he suggested. The priest nods

"It's this way!" he points to the left.

Ven turns the car to the left and follows the path of the road.

"_**~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"**_

*_Back to you_*

Hmm… which one to pick…

Will it be the red one or the blue one…? You thought as you look between the blue shirt and the red shirt, taking your time to make a decision.

The blonde girl is now waiting for you to finish dressing up your Barbie, since she is already done dressing hers. Only problem is, you're taking it too long… Making her wonder if you're actually having a hard time making decisions.

You are already aware that that girl is waiting for you... Good. Keep her waiting. That's part of the plan to make her feel bored playing with you. You know that waiting leads to boredom since you already had that experience during your 'survival instinct'…

You pull out the red shirt from the wardrobe and begin to slip it on the Barbie. You then take a look of your Barbie and examine it…feeling a bit unsatisfied, or pretending to be at least.

The girl who is still watching you wonders if you're already finished since you've been taking _forever_. The two Barbies she held are now slowly slipping from her hand from too much sweat. (Barbie dress up fever)

No… This won't do, you thought as you select another random clothes from the wardrobe then take off the red shirt from the Barbie. Out of the corner of your eyes, you thought you saw one of the Barbies of the girl drop to the floor… Did she finally lose it? You wondered, hoping that that's one of the signals that show she's irritated and finally give up…

You pretend that you're still having a hard time or difficulty in choosing or finding the right clothe for your Barbie while slowly taking your time, acting like you're not bothered or didn't care to keep her waiting.

Your main objective is to act as the most boring, annoying playmate of hers to get her quit playing with you as a route to escape. So far, you think you did a great job… Judging by her actions and movements, there's a signal or sign that shows she's already losing her patience.

The girl picks up her fallen Barbie that slips from her hand earlier and decided to get another new Barbies from the playset for her again… You saw that. Great… So she's planning to dress another Barbie while waiting for you to get done. What a great idea. How wise thing to do… This is _not_ part of the plan…!

Instead of trying to get her irritated with you, you ended up getting irritated instead…

Now you're annoyed. Doesn't this girl have a Barbie to choose to? And besides… her mother must be still waiting for her at the cashier or something… It's been like 20 minutes or so since you two are _stuck_ here. You need to get out of here…!

The girl turns her head to take a peek on you to see if your finish. You become aware of that so you quickly pretend that you're still having trouble deciding… When she focuses back into dressing her new Barbie, you look down and furrow your eyebrows. Now what…?

There are only 5 clothes remaining inside the wardrobe… Plus, none of them looks even _ugly_ enough to dress it on your Barbies. Only the red and the blue shirt bring the ugliness or boringness to your Barbies.

What you should do now?

You realize that the girl is almost finishing in dressing up her new Barbie, which leaves you awareness to the situation you're in…

_Wait_ a minute… You paused.

Didn't she dress her new Barbie to keep herself 'distracted' while waiting for you? Oh… You slowly curve up your lips. So she's doing it just to kill some boredom in order to make it up to her wait. Well, too bad she won't receive what she'd expect at the end…

You're now waiting for her to finish with her new ones while _still_ taking your 'time' on your two boring ones. You have to keep a serious expression to act like your serious so that she won't notice that this is all just a plan out...

When the girl is finish, she turns to you with a look of expectance, only to get it wipe off when she saw that you're _still _looking at the 5 clothes that were left behind at the wardrobes. She's shock… She's been at _four _Barbies already and yet, you still aren't done yet with the two…!

You just _love_ her expression. You can't wait to see her next move now…

She seems _paralyzed_… Probably unable to think of what to do after finding out that for after 3 minutes, you are still stuck with the two Barbies that haven't seem to have made a lot of change on their appearance.

_Ha_! You thought. Looks like you're plan is finally _winning_. You are now just hoping that she'd finally allow you to go and set you free from this prison of pinkness. Cause you never felt like a prisoner once in your lifetime…

The girl finally seems to recover from shock and looks like she already has something going on her mind, making you hope that she will call this a _time-out_. You watch her from the corner of your eyes, move to the playset and get something from there, making you curious…

You turn your head to watch her, but quickly look back at the wardrobes and your Barbies when she turned back to your way then moves closer to you.

You felt or sense something falling down to the ground, and when you look down, your eyes widen a bit in surprise…

Looks like she _added _more clothes coming from the playset…!

You blink multiple times before looking at the girl with a questionable look on your face. She just smiles at you and motions for you to use the _new _clothes for your Barbies, as a 'helpful' solution to help on your decisions. You felt like _crying_…

You fake smile at her as a gesture of thanks then pick up some few new clothes she brought, examining them… All of these new clothes didn't look too ugly to wear them on your Barbies…Which only add more difficult to your current situation.

Seems like she doesn't want to quit yet playing with you… You swear… this girl is like an immune to anything. _Nothing_ seems to affect her…! Not even you're Barbies' ugliness or your slowness…

She must have had all the time in the world… How lucky of her.

Right now you're just hoping that either Ven or her mother will _magically _appear to escape this situation…If that's possible…

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

*****_Meanwhile, back at the two tiny figures*_

Ven is now driving on the empty road of the Childhood section. Most of the toys here at the aisles appear to be inanimate objects since this place is quite quiet…

"Do you think = = = might still be wandering off somewhere?" Ven asked while scanning the whole area, just to make sure you aren't a toy…

The priest scans the whole area as well then looks at Ven "As far as I can remember, we had checked out almost every section they have here on store without seeing her except this section yet. So there's a high chance that she should be around here somewhere since this section is for kids like her level…"

Ven stops driving then looks at the priest quickly with high hopes in his eyes "So you think she is just somewhere around this section?" he asked hopefully, hoping to see you soon since it's been long minutes or a while since you've disappeared.

The priest thought about it…

"I guess so… We haven't checked this section yet, didn't we?" he presumed. Ven nods slowly… "Yeah…" he agreed. He remembers almost every aisle they've already visited except this one. Good thing he got them recorded. He looks at the priest again

"Have you any idea of where she must be now?" he asked eagerly, hoping to get this over with so he could find you quick. "Hmm…" the priest is in deep thought.

"Well… She _could_ be at the Barbie aisle if she's interested in playing Barbies, I think…" he guessed. Ven raises his eyebrow "The Barbie aisle?" he looks around before looking back at the priest again "Is she in there?"

The priest shrugged "She is your _sister_… Does she _like _playing with Barbie?" he asked him instead. Ven thinks about it… Do you _like _playing with Barbie? Are you the type of girl who likes to play with _pink_? The only way to figure it out is to find out… He looks back at the priest

"We'll have to find out. So where is the Barbie aisle?" he asked quickly. "You mean the 'pink' aisle…? Oh, it's just around the corner. Just drive all the way back to the left until you can spot a pink area where you'll notice that it belongs to the Barbie aisle" he explained. Ven nods

"Okay, I got it" he said before driving out of this area.

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

*_Back at prison…*_

This girl is winning… Not only that she added new clothes to help you pick for your Barbies, but she also decided to _help you _choose which clothes is best to wear to fit to your Barbies…! From this on… you know that you're already _doomed_.

You don't know what to think anymore… It seems all of your plans have failed when she comes out with a new one. A new one to _ruin _it…! You just wish you had a voice…

You fake smile again when she gives you the 'beautiful' looking clothe for you to wear them on your Barbie. One thing makes you wonder… Why is she interested in playing with you when she already knows that you're _mute_?

You slowly slip on the 'beautiful' (_bleh_!) looking clothe on your Barbie just to annoy her in hopes that it'll work to let her quit playing with you. But, from what your traitor eyes told you, she seems to be enjoying watching you slipping on that clothe on your Barbie…Much to your annoyed.

When you're already done dressing the Barbie, the blonde girl took her from your hand and examines her happily, clearly satisfied of the clothe she chose since it brings the 'beauty' in her…

You look around as she is still looking at the Barbie, hoping to at least find a way to get out of here… or someone to arrive to save you. Either Ven or her mother, though this store seems awfully quiet to have any customers around… Last thing you need is to be trap here with this Barbie fanatic girl…

The girl collects all of the Barbies that you both have used then brings them back to the playset… Your heart _skips_… Is it finally _over_? You thought hopefully as you watch her place all of the Barbies back to their respected place.

_Yes_…! You thought happily. Yes! It's finally over! You smile. You never felt this relief and happy in your life before… You felt like the prison cell has finally opens for you to let you set _free_. You resist the urge to dance as you continued watching her organize the Barbies…

When she turned around, you felt your heart _stop_…

WHAT! You thought. She brought another new Barbies _again_…?

She smiles at you as she sits down then offers you another two new Barbies for you to use. You stare at it in disbelief before reluctantly accepting them. No… No…

No… No… This girl is insane… No…Just _no_…!

You really need to get _out _of here! You just felt like _screaming_...!

The girl in front of you already starts dressing her new Barbies as you are still freaking out in the inside… What have you done _wrong_...?

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

Ven continues to drive straight ahead until they can almost see the last aisle of the childhood section. Just as the priest said, Ven did spot a hint of color pink at the very corner of that aisle.

"I think I found it!" Ven exclaimed.

The priest spotted it too and then points at it, saying "That's the Barbie aisle! Check it out. She might be in there…"

Ven looks at him "Do you think?"

"I guessed."

Ven faces the 'pink' aisle again and hopes to the meteor shower that this is the last aisle he's gonna check and visit with you being in there in result…

He follows the path to the pink aisle and hopes that you'll finally be seen there.

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

_*Back in being a prisoner…*_

You continued to follow up with your plan in being slow as the girl is now selecting the 'perfect' clothes for her new second Barbie after finishing with the first one.

One thing always comes up to your mind…

Just where is her mother? Shouldn't she be appearing by now since it's already been long enough to have her daughter _still_ be staying here…?

You wonder if there's something wrong with the time zone…

You snap out of it after realizing that the girl is looking at you and your undone (naked) Barbies… You look at it too and suddenly felt awkward… You didn't realize that she's already done.

You quickly pick some random clothes from the wardrobes to cover up your Barbies then slip those on them… When you're done, it took a while for you to realize that the clothes you slipped on are backwards as you present them to her.

You girl looks at you funny…

You look at her questionably before looking down at your Barbies… Oh. You gave her a sheepish smile. How. Embarrassing.

She burst out laughing and gives you a thumb up.

You look at her funny before looking back at your Barbies. Oh. So she finds this _funny_… You smile.

You join her laugh at your 'funny' mistake to make things less awkward…

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

The two made it into the pink aisle or the Barbie aisle where most of the areas are covered in pink and are being surrounded by tons of Barbies on the aisles…

Ven observed that every Barbies here have their own categories such as Halloween costumes, Foreign Barbies, Working Barbies, Princess Barbies, etc…

He suddenly stops driving.

His eyes widen…

!

He _finally _found you! You are having some kind of a Barbie games with a girl who looks just like your age on the ground floor, only a miles away…

"That's her?" the priest asked, leaning a bit to take a few glimpse of 'you'. Ven nods, "Yes, that's her! She doesn't realize I'm here yet."

The priest studies 'you' again "Ooh… You two almost look alike. Except, her hair is _curly_" he stated.

Ven looks at him funny "No, not her. You're talking about the other one" He points at you who is sitting in front of the girl who's back is facing them, "I meant _her._"

The priest examines you a bit closer then gives Ven a funny look

"Are you sure that's her? You two look _nothing_ alike…"

Ven just shakes his head and starts driving forward slowly. "So what are you trying to do?" the priest asked him. Ven looks at him, "I need to find a way to get her attention…" he explained. Priest gives him a surprising look "In your _form_? You're kidding right…?"

Ven stops the car right beside the aisle then looks at the priest "Thanks for your help…" He smiles

"I appreciate it" he called before leaving the car.

The priest watches him in surprise "H-Hey! Where are you going?" he called as he watches Ven run straight to the road to get a bit closer to you two.

"To the place where she can see me!" Ven replied.

"O-Oh…" the priest watches him. "Well… Good luck then!" he called before sliding to the driver's seat then grabs the steering wheel. He watches Ven for a while who is now climbing his way up on the left aisle…

"May my prayers go to you…"

"Be _careful_…!" he whispered before driving away out of the area to avoid getting caught being there all of the sudden.

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

So after the funny mistake incident where you accidently dress your Barbies in the _opposite_ way, the girl decided to imitate exactly what you did for the sake of _fun_. You don't know whether to blame yourself or not… After all, you too did have fun. Only is… there's no time for fun since you've already wasted enough time being here.

The girl shows you her 'misplaced' dressed Barbie, which is wearing a simple pink shirt and long blue skirt.

You got to admit… Her Barbie even did look funny.

The both of you laugh at her work. As you two are laughing, you thought you saw something moving out of the corner of your eyes behind the girl's back. When you tried to take a closer look, the girl hands you a naked Barbie and motions for you to dress her just as how you mistakenly dressed your two previous Barbies before.

She then drops a few clothes to the ground for you to select. These few clothes were actually her 'Top favorites'…

You really want to leave now…but, you hate to be rude so you have no choice but to 'give this girl her _wish_'… You begin to select some random clothes again then start slipping them on your Barbie.

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

Ven pulls himself up on the ledge of the 4th shelf and then pushes the Barbie box backwards to give him some more space. He looks down and notices that you are busy dressing a Barbie while the girl in front of you is watching you with interest.

The two of you are a few distances away from him so it's a little bit impossible for you to see him…

So he looks around, trying to find a way to get your attention and also avoid being caught by your playmate, where _thankfully_ her back is facing this way, not being able to see him.

It seems like _nothing_ here can help him attract your attention… Only Barbies that are being placed inside a box are beside him. He looks down and furrows his eyebrows, thinking…

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~" **

You showed the blond girl your work, which is nothing special. Just your Barbie wearing a long blue sleeve shirt that has turtle neck and simple dark jeans which are both backwards… You don't want to put much effort to it so it may look like you're not interested. You smile and offer her the Barbie, wishing that she finds it rather boring…

She smiles and takes it, giving it a liking look. No…Way…

Doesn't this girl ever _hate_ instead of love?

The girl gives you back the Barbie and motions you for wait as she now starts to do another backward dress-up to her Barbie. You just nodded curtly…already tired of smiling since their just fake. You hope her mother will appear very _soon_ since your already getting tired of this.

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

Ven suddenly got an idea.

Since the girl who you're playing with is now busy dressing the Barbie she held, he thinks this is now the best opportunity to try and grab your attention to let you know where he is now…

He moves a little closer to allow you to get a clear view of him then starts hopping up and down.

"_Pssst!_" he starts waving his arms up frantically

"= = =…!" he whispered your name a little loudly, hoping that you can hear him, even though the blond girl is more close to him...

You don't seem to notice him yet as you are still busy watching the girl in front of you, who is still busy finding the 'right' clothes for her Barbie to wear.

Ven continues to jump rapidly while waving his arms around until you can finally catch him… The Barbie in a box behind him suddenly becomes alive and glares at him

"_What are you doing? Are you trying to get caught in_ _being alive…?" _she whispered harshly.

Ven glances behind him and nods

"Yeah! I gotta catch her attention!" He looks back at you again and continues to jump and wave

"_= = =…!" _he tries again

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

You weren't sure… but you thought you saw something move _again_ behind the girl, making you curious this time.

When you look pass the girl's back, you immediately froze… What the…

"= = =!"

Ven never felt so relief in his life to ever see you… Now that you finally saw him, he stops jumping but still remains waving his arms to let you know where he is.

"_I'm over here_…!" he mouthed with one hand cup to his mouth while continuously using the other one to wave so that you can still see him.

Your eyes are as huge as baseballs…

What on _earth _happened to Ven?


	19. Chapter 19

What on_ earth _happened to Ven?

He was transformed into a _toy_…?

You are in wild shock… You just _can't _believe what you just saw right at the upper shelf level of your right aisle… You don't know if your eyes were deceiving you…

But as you can see, Ven's toy figure keeps calling you, making you believe that you weren't actually hallucinating. It seems like he's trying to tell you something… Too bad you can't understand him.

But…is this for _real_?

Did Ven really turn into a toy…?

You snap out of it when the girl presented to you her already backward-dressed Barbie… You look at it and just smile, pretending that you like it, 'cause deep inside you're not really interested.

The girl smiles and lets you hold it.

As you are holding it, you are pretending to admire it but are actually looking at Ven from the corner of your eyes, who is signaling to you that it is time for you to _leave_…

You want to let him know that you are trying _hard _to but it is impossible since the girl in front of you is pretty _immune_ and a Barbie fanatic…

Speaking of fanatic, the girl brought out _another _new Barbie for her to dress to and begins to select one of her top favorite clothes again that are still being displayed on the ground. You sweat drop and hesitantly look at Ven…

He facepalms and slowly shakes his head…

It seems like he already got the message... Now you can only hope that he'll just have to wait patiently until your plan on making her quit playing with you _works_.

This time you don't have to pretend that you're still 'admiring' her Barbie since she's too occupied with her work so you look at Ven and motion for him to wait.

He motions for you to _hurry up_…

You sweat drop again and nod. Seems like he's in a hurry… Well, he has the right to be, since you two already wasted enough time here and only got few hours until it is time to go back home.

You aren't aware that the girl is looking at you weirdly… It wasn't until she turns her head back to see what you're looking at.

At her sudden action, you suddenly bolt up and quickly grab her shoulders to prevent her from looking back. She looks at you strangely as you quickly pick up her 'almost' finish dressed Barbie from the ground then show it to her, acting like you really _love_ it.

She grins at you before taking the Barbie from your hand to 'admire' it, very thrilled that you like it…

From out of the corner of your eyes, you saw Ven waving his arms again to catch your attention. You turn to look at him, only to be blocked by that girl who smiles at you as she gives you the Barbie that you've 'admired' so much before starting to dress another one.

When she's not looking, you look at Ven again to see what he's about to tell you…

He motions to you by sign language to pretend that you have to -

_WHAT_!

A Barbie suddenly appeared to your face. You look at it then give the girl a questionable look. She smiles and motions for you to join along with her so that you'd both have a 'fair' fun.

You reluctantly took it and give Ven a sorry look…

He frowns when he saw you slowly about to dress up another Barbie then decided to try to think of another way to help you escape… He looks around then suddenly remembers that these aisles only contains full of Barbie.

How come he _forgot_?

He looks over at you two again and sense how much difficulty you have in dealing with your situation.

If only he wasn't a toy, he would get you out of there instantly…

You finish dressing that Barbie you're holding and show it to the girl. She examines it as you take a sneak peek behind her to see what Ven is now doing…

He is now carrying a Barbie box and is about to _throw_ it at her.

Your eyes widen.

What is he _thinking…_?

The girl smiles at you and gives you a thumb up. You smile back and nod in thanks before quickly hugging her to show your appreciation… She stiffens in surprise, but slowly hugs back in return.

From behind her, you give Ven the 'look' and shake your head frantically, begging him not to throw the Barbie box to her. He slowly puts the Barbie box down then places it back behind him. He then looks at you and motions for you to leave her now.

You frown at him, wanting him to know that you'd love to but it seems like she _won't _let you…!

The girl releases you, and with no surprise, gives you _another_ Barbie for you to dress to. You're about to reach and take it, but stop midway when you saw Ven motioning for you _not _to take it.

You look in-between him and her…Having a huge dilemma already.

If you choose not to take it, then you wouldn't know what would be your excuse, considering that you hate to be rude for leaving with an invalid reason. And if you take it, then, you'll have to endure another long moment with this girl, having to keep Ven more waiting, something he does not like…

The girl is looking at you oddly, wondering what's keeping you…

She notices you looking at something behind her. With curiosity, she turns her head over to see what you're staring at.

You quickly accept the Barbie from her hand to catch her attention. She looks back at you to see you smiling at her, about to dress the Barbie.

Ven facepalms…

Not _again_… Doesn't this girl have _enough _of dressing several Barbies already…?

You select some random favorite clothes of hers that hasn't been wear yet as she begins to undress hers. While she's not looking, you took a sneak peek behind her to see what Ven's up to, hoping that he didn't grow frustrated…

Nope, he isn't…

He's _annoyed_.

You should have _declined_ the offer. He seems to be losing his patience… You can't blame him. After been transformed to a toy, he must have been through _a lot_.

Ven frowns and looks down, staring to the ground… Then he realized that the priest had left.

Great.

Now he regrets not calling him to stay… He could at least be useful for some help.

Ven scans around the area again to search for anything that can help him get you out of there, but all he sees are Barbies. Barbies, and then Barbies…

Barbies everywhere...

Will they help? _No_. They'll just bring another torture to you both, adding more Barbies to play with…

Not even one Barbie can help him make you leave.

Wait.

What if _some_ Barbie _can _help you leave…? He thought thoroughly.

He scans around the area once more and examines the Barbies… Hmm, He _wonders _what he's gotta do with one of these Barbies to get you away from her…

He snaps his finger.

He _knows_!

You're now done with dressing the Barbie you're holding. Now you could only hope that she'll finally have _enough _of playing Barbie dress-up so you could finally be able to grab Ven and escape from this endless madness…!

The girl did her one last slip of the jeans on the Barbie's legs then turns to look at you while presenting her. You gave her a smile and nodded in approval, as a sign of liking it.

She smiles in graceful then looks at your Barbie…

Her smile suddenly became an awkward smile when she saw that you're Barbie's jeans is very loose, almost revealing her exposed hips.

Ven looks at you two and must find the right time to catch your attention after that girl is not fully focusing on you…

He looks at the Barbie boxes beside him.

He's plan is to_ scare _the girl off by dropping one of the Barbie boxes to the floor to make her think as this aisle is 'haunted'… Now all he has to do is to get your attention to ask you to look away from here to also act as the 'victim' and avoid being the 'eyewitness', before doing his thing.

He looks over at you two again and hopes he'll make the right timing in calling you when you're playmate is not facing you…

There are only four clothes remaining. Two are for the upper body part while the other two are jeans.

You noted that these four last clothes are her remaining favorites so you hope that this means after these four last ones, this endless game will finally come to an end… _Finally_ be _over_.

The two of you starts to select the clothes that are still lying on the floor before starting to undress the Barbies.

This time you make it quick.

Ven now thinks that this is the _right_ timing to be calling for your attention just as the girl is now deep focus to her Barbie.

He has to be quick though…

Without thinking twice, he starts hopping up and down while waving his arms sideways, hoping that you will see him. He pauses...

It seems like you're also in deep focus with your Barbie… He notices that you're in a hurry too, too busy to even notice him. All he can do is wait and hope that you finish it before she does so that you can see him clearer.

You're done.

You hope that this is the _final _Barbie you had already dressed and her final Barbie she'd use. You had enough. Enough's enough…

One more Barbie dress-up, then you'll go _crazy_…!

The girl is almost done with her Barbie. You wish that she'll finally get tired of this and call it quits.

_Now _it is the time to be calling for your attention…!

Ven moves a bit closer to the edge and starts jumping.

"_Pssst…_!" he whispered, though you can't hear him…

He stops jumping and starts waving his arms

"= = =…!"

He pauses again…

He thought he heard something that sounds like footsteps… He turns his head to where the sound comes from just to make sure he wasn't imagining things…

He heard it again. And it sounds familiar…

High heels…? He thought. It does sound like high heels… He freezes.

_High heels_…?

The sound is getting _closer_… It looks like someone's coming this way. Ven looks back to you to see you two 'admiring' over your Barbies.

It's too late to call you now…

"Molly?" a woman appeared around the corner of the aisle.

Ven looks at her and recognized her as the woman who appeared at them earlier… He quickly turns himself to a lifeless toy and fall down, hoping not to be recognized.

The girl who appeared to be 'Molly' looks up and sees her mother calling for her.

"Oh!" she exclaims, dropping the Barbie she's holding to the floor.

Thank _goodness_…! You thought, already feeling relief.

Her mother walks to her "Come on. It's time for us to go… Have you chosen anything?" she asked, looking around the aisles of Barbies.

Molly nods and smiles.

"_Mhm_" she stood up and picks up the Barbie box beside her then shows it to her mom. Her mother nods "Alright. Let's go"

Molly looks at you and smiles

"Thanks for playing with me…" she giggles.

"I really had fun!" she stated happily.

You smile and nod at her, telling her it's 'no problem'. At last…It's finally _over_.

Molly smiles once again at you before waving goodbye then left to follow her mother…

You wave back and smile, happy that her mother finally came to the rescue. Molly holds hands together with her mother and swings it back and forth as they are leaving you behind…

You looked back at Ven and saw him lying on the shelf, pretending to be a toy, or… asleep, maybe?

You wait for the two to leave so you can get to Ven safely. Just few meters away then they'll be gone…

Molly and her mother are almost out of the aisle, when Molly suddenly stop, causing her mother to look at her wonderously. Even you gave a strange look…

Molly thought she saw something that catches her eyes…Making her stop and search for that certain something.

"Molly, what's wrong?" her mother asked, looking at her weirdly.

Molly releases her hand from her mother's then moves close to the aisle to find out what was that she just saw that caught her distracted…

You don't know why…but, something tells you that something's bad is going to happen. You hope it's not true because you already had enough of these kinds of situations… You just want to rest and go back to bed.

You're heart skips when Molly is _dangerously _close to Ven's shelf, or almost at least…

Please don't see Ven, _please _don't see Ven…! You keep chanting to your head.

Molly's mother went beside Molly and touches her shoulder

"What is it Molly? Something caught your eye?" she asked, looking at the aisles Molly's looking before giving her a questionable look.

Molly looks back at her mother then back at the aisle… She shakes her head.

"No…"

She turns to her mother then holds her hand. She smiles then continues to lead them both out of this area.

You sigh in relief…

Thank goodness, _again_… You were having a heart attack there, heh heh…

You smile and stare at all of the previous Barbies that you two had used when you girls were playing, loving the feeling that you've survived this whole session…

The two are now close to leaving, when they're almost reaching out of the Barbie aisle, Molly stop again.

She looks at her right and thought she finally saw what caught her attention earlier…

She found a _different_ toy that does not look like it belongs here at the aisles. She slowly picks it up then stares it.

What an attractive toy…She thought.

"What's that?" her mother asked, coming near to her and looks at what she's holding. Molly smiles at her, "Ken…" she replied.

"Ken?" her mother repeat, looking at 'Ken' weirdly.

Looks_nothing_like Ken to her…

Molly turns to her and shows 'Ken' to her.

"Can I_ take_ it?" she asked excitedly.

Her mother looks at 'Ken' unsurely… "_Please_…?" Molly begged. Her mother sighs

"Alright… But be sure to take care of it"

Molly jumps with pure joy then holds her mother's hand again, happily leading them out of this place.

You're done looking at these previous Barbies that you and Molly used earlier. Just looking at them makes you feel tired… Reminds you of all the torture you had endured as you tried to find a way to escape.

You look up and saw that those two had finally left this area to your relief… You stand up and quickly walk to find Ven.

When you went to the right aisle, you gave an odd look.

You could have sworn that Ven was _here _on this shelf before… But _where _is he?

You look around the aisles and try to find Ven who must be around here somewhere…!

That's strange… You thought as you look back to where Ven was earlier. You saw Ven was still here when Molly and her mother are leaving.

Could it be…?

You froze.

Your heart _stops_.

_No_…!

Molly _took _Ven! Your heart is now beating with quick rhythm. You _gotta _get out of here! Gotta get Ven _back! _

You immediately rush out of the pink aisle and begin to make your chase towards the two of them.

"**~" "~" "~" "~" "~"**

*_Meanwhile, at the cashier…*_

Molly happily watches her new Barbie getting scan by the chicken man cashier through using the scanner, while her mother looks at the cash register screen to see how much she should pay for the toys.

After scanning the tag price of the Barbie box, it is now Ven's turn to get scan… This makes Molly grew even more excited.

The cashier grabs Ven next and puts him through the scanner. When there's no beeping sound, the cashier looks at him oddly…

Why is there _no_ sound?

And how come he does _not_ remember bringing this toy here…?

The cashier turns Ven over from left to right, top to bottom to check if there's any tag price. Molly's smile falter when she saw that Ken was not yet being put right next to her new Barbie, who was already been done scanning. The cashier looks at the two confusingly

"Where did you two get this toy from…?" the chicken man asked.

Molly's mother looks at him strangely

"At the Barbie aisle… Why? Something wrong…?" she asked concern.

The chicken man looks at Ven again weirdly. The Barbie aisle…? Why the heck does a toy like _this _being put to a Barbie aisle?

He furrows his eyebrows in confusion

"Is there a problem?" Molly's mother asked concerningly.

The chicken man quickly looks at her sheepishly "Ah, n-no! No. Not at all! Heh heh. Here" he quickly puts Ven right next to the Barbie box and type in the same price as the Barbie on the cash register.

Molly's mother sees the total price then reaches for her wallet.

The chicken man quickly places the Barbie box on a shopping bag then does Ven next. Molly quickly rushes to him and shakes her head, saying "No" she extends her arm to him, smiling

"I wanna hold him…"

The chicken man smiles back at her then gives her 'Ken', which she took happily.

Molly's mother pay the price, which the chicken man took it excitingly then counts it eagerly…

He then waves them goodbye as he watches them leave.

"Don't forget to come back!" he called before counting off the money again…

You pant tiredly as you made it all the way through the cashier area then look around frantically for the two…

Your heart keeps pounding unsteadily.

You saw the entrance door being close and were surprise to see Molly and her mother already left the store, about to reach for their car at the parking lot.

You rush you're way to the entrance door and ignore the weird look you received from the chicken man, who is in the middle of counting all the cash inside the cash register (which you interrupted).

Now he has to start all over _again_, thanks to _you_…

Molly's mother brought out her car key from her wallet and is about to unlock the driver's door while Molly is happily looking in between her new Barbie and Ken, glad that she managed to spot Ken before leaving the Barbie aisle, or else she would never have him as a new toy.

She studies him more closely…

This must be a teenage version of Ken since he looks way younger than all of the other Kens she saw on national tv...

Molly's mother unlocks all the locked seats of the car then motions for Molly to get in. Molly looks at her and nods.

You came out of the entrance doorway of the store hastily and saw that the two of them are about to get inside the car. Your eyes widen.

You quickly run forward and hope that you are able to catch them before they get in.

Ven from Molly's hand was the first one to see you and couldn't believe his eyes that you came all the way here…! He thought that you are still inside the store, searching around for him since you couldn't found him from the shelf.

He was half relief and half tense, afraid that you might not be able to catch up and be left behind…

What he _didn't _know is, Molly saw you too and was frozen to her spot, where she was about to sit at the backseat. She quickly looks at her mother who is already at the driver's seat, about to start the engine.

"Mom, look!"

"Huh?" Molly's mother pauses at her seat and turn her head to the right window to see you running your way towards them.

You finally reach their car and stop to catch some air, trying to steady your heartbeat…

Molly came out of the backseat and approaches to you, giving you a concern look.

"Are you okay…?" she asked worriedly.

You look at her while panting. How will you answer to that? If you said yes, then they might think you go crazy for chasing them all the way here without apparent reason…

But if you said no, then maybe they'll ask you 'what's wrong' and 'why' are you following them, which there should be a reason…

Molly places Ven to the backseat before coming back to you again and wait for your answer.

Your mind is empty. No clue of what to think or how to response…

Ven quickly sit ups and then motions you to pretend that you have _stomach ache_ so that they might bring you with them to help you.

You look at him, not sure if that's the best idea…

You notice that Molly is still waiting for your response, leaving you feeling dumb.

Well, here goes _nothing_…

You wince and hunch your back while grabbing your stomach.

Molly looks at you in surprise... She came closer to you and places her hand on your shoulder, looking at you worriedly

"Are you alright…?"

You look at her in pain and shake your head slowly, before wincing and clutching your stomach tighter.

Molly's mother immediately came out of the driver's seat then rushes to you.

"Molly, is she _alright_…?" she asked worriedly.

Molly looks at her in panic and shakes her head "No mom… I think she's _sick_"

The mother gasps and looks at you, seeing the way how you clutch your stomach tightly and gritting your teeth.

You gave her a fake painful look…

The mother kneels down to your level and touches the both of your shoulders gently. "Are you having a stomach ache?"

You narrow your eyes in pain and nod.

She looks at you in surprise as Molly gives her mother a questionable look "What's a stomach ache…?"

The mother releases your shoulder and stood up. She looks at you once again

"Do you need our help?" she asked concerned again.

You blush… This is _embarrassing_…!

You saw Ven from behind their backs quickly nods his head at you for you to answer 'yes'.

You slowly nod your head… Oh well, desperate times call for desperate measure…

The mother looks around the area before looking at you again. "Okay… Do you have any guardians with you or anybody who's here with you?"

You look past behind her and seek for Ven's help…

He quickly shakes his head no, then motions for you that you came here all alone…

You look back at her and slowly shake your head before doing a sign language that you are just alone.

"You're alone…?" she asked. You nodded.

"Do you know where your house is?" she asked another question. Uh oh… You are in _deep _trouble…!

Ven waves his arm to catch your attention then motions for you to pretend that you're stomach ache is getting painful, in order to avoid that question…

You wince and kneel down to your knees to pretend that your stomach ache is getting worse.

Molly and her mother look at you in shock. Molly quickly looks at her mother

"Mom, I think we should go _help _her! Ask her some questions _later_…!" she declared.

Her mother nods then gently helps you up to your feet, before escorting you to the backseat with Molly who's also helping you walk.

_Success_…!

"Try to _relax_ okay?" Molly's mother said, trying to soothe you.

You nodded at her while squeezing your stomach. Molly, who is beside you, looks at you worried.

The mother quickly rushes to the driver's seat, close and locks all the doors and about to start the engine. You are close to Ven now… If you have the opportunity, you would go snatch him away and run away to get this over with… Though that sounds _risky_...

Molly grabs Ven and sits closer to you, before placing him right beside her on the very corner of the backseat, which leaves you two a few meters apart.

You guess you can't snatch him away when you guys leave the car… Looks like this is gonna be harder than you thought…

Molly's mother now drives backwards to leave the parking lot.

This means you're now going to be visiting their home and about to be 'treated' for your 'stomach ache'. And after that, you'll be facing very difficult questions about your 'home', 'family', and 'place', where none of them got an answer…

You even have to find a way to retrieve Ven once you are already at their home, which is the most difficult task you'll have to do…

You are nervous yet at the same time relief that you managed to still stay connected with Ven, even though he turned into a toy. And speaking of toy, will Ven ever change back?

You hope so. If not, then you don't know how Eraqus, Terra and Aqua will react to this…

Molly looks at you in concern and places her hand on top of yours

"Does your stomach still hurt…?"

You look at her and nod. Lie.

She frowns then looks at her mom "Mom, please _hurry_…!" she exclaimed.

"I _am _hurrying Molly…!" her mother exclaimed back.

The mother is now driving to the road of the city, where many cars are seen on each street and tons of civilians being busy on some areas.

You observed that this place is different from the place of Far Far Away land…Where this appears to look more modern and large…

You wonder of Ven can see these… If not, then that sucks. You know that he likes visiting the new world as said by him and always been treated as prisoner.

You wonder what made him in the first place to be turned into a toy…

Well, you hope that's temporary. Just like how he was transformed to a girl back then at the Far Far Away land…

You hope that you can make it without _screwing _this up…


End file.
